Waitara man Steven Wallace appeared to have "devils in his head" the night he was fatally shot by Constable Keith Abbott, the New Plymouth District Court heard today.
Keith Luxton, the owner of the Waitara post and lotto shop, said in a interview with a private investigator that Mr Wallace appeared
to be "completely out of his tree" during a window smashing spree on April 30, 2000, shortly before he was killed.
Mr Luxton is a witness on the seventh day of a preliminary hearing in the private murder prosecution against Constable Abbott.
Mr Luxton and his wife Thelma lived in an upstairs apartment which overlooked McLean St where the shooting took place.
Sergeant Fiona Prestidge, who arrived on the scene shortly after Abbott shot Wallace, is also to give evidence today.
The case, taken by the Wallace family, is the first of its kind against a New Zealand police officer.
A police investigation reviewed by the solicitor-general had earlier cleared Abbott of any wrongdoing, finding he acted in self-defence.
