The confrontation started over fireworks.
The key witness in the case of a Lower Hutt man accused of shooting his neighbour’s guest during a fight over fireworks says he has no memory of almost everything that happened.
Tuhi Isaac Alexander, 38, is on trial in the Wellington District Court this week where he is accused of pulling a pistol and shooting another man in the shoulder when the fireworks disagreement turned violent.
His lawyer has suggested the complainant, Leonard Murray, brought the gun and accidentally shot himself in the scuffle.
Today the case has taken a confusing turn, with an important witness claiming he cannot recollect anything from the night except that there was a shooting.
Iziah Hughes, known as Swiper, was the other person involved in the fight on Judd Crescent, Naenae on the night of November 5, 2022, and was present for the duration of the incident.
It happened when Alexander’s neighbour hosted a Guy Fawkes gathering, with children letting off fireworks in the street outside.
Despite giving details of what happened in a formal police statement at the time, Hughes today told the court he couldn’t remember anything, and that events that happened in his life since 2022 had impacted this.
He said this included having his face “caved in” and getting “a really good bash” over the last few years.
Scratching his head and blowing air through his lips, Hughes said multiple times he could not jog his memory.
He appeared by audio-visual link and initially told Crown prosecutor Lee van der Lem in detail who was present that evening and where they had gone as a group beforehand, but when asked if he remembered anything about his interactions with the accused, he said he could not.
“Can you remember anything about a man coming to talk to you?” van der Lem asked.
“No,” Hughes said.
“Can you remember a child walked down the road with him?”
“No,” was the reply.
“Can you remember getting involved in any sort of violent altercation with anyone that evening?”
“No, being very honest, I can’t remember nothing, no,” Hughes responded.
When asked if he remembered seeing any weapons that evening, Hughes said he did not, and that he “vividly” remembered that there was a shooting, but not who was involved or injured.
“I’m trying my hardest to remember things, but I really can’t.”
Van der Lem then read Hughes’ statement back to him. In it, he said Alexander walked towards them holding his daughter, who looked to be about 2 years old.
“The guy walked up to me and said something like ‘you’re scaring my daughter’ . . . I just said something like ‘who’s scaring your daughter, she looks okay.’ He said ‘You are. You’re scaring my f***ing kids’.”
According to his statement, Alexander then put the child down and, immediately after standing up, punched Hughes in the face. A fight began and Alexander allegedly pulled out a tomahawk and began swinging it. Multiple people worked to restrain him.
Hughes said in his statement he kept trying to calm Alexander down, and then as he stood up, he heard “this loud bang right in front of me, it was like one of the fireworks going off”.
“Straight away I heard Leonard say ‘You f***ing shot me.’ I don’t think I even saw the gun at the time.”
He then described feeling as though he was in a fight for his life as he and Murray fought and disarmed Alexander.
“He started pleading and begging and saying he just wanted his daughter,” his statement said.
“I think maybe he thought we would turn the gun on him. He went from aggro to pleading.”
The men let him up and reunited him with his daughter, telling him multiple times to leave the scene.
Alexander has pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He also denied charges of common assault, possession of an offensive weapon, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Leonard Murray gave evidence yesterday, saying he did not see the gun before being shot. He described seeing a small flash then feeling heat in his shoulder or armpit area.
After the group let Alexander leave, Murray drove himself to Wellington Hospital. The bullet stayed in his shoulder for a week until he was able to have surgery, he said.
Defence lawyer Steve Gill asked Murray if he brought the weapon and shot himself with it.
“Mr Murray, you’ve accidentally shot yourself with the gun that you had during the scuffle, didn’t you?” Gill suggested.
“That’s incorrect,” replied Murray.
Gill asked if Murray was Mongrel Mob-affiliated, to which Murray said he himself was not, but that he had family members who were.
The trial, before a jury of four men and eight women, is set to last for several days.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.