A close friend of murder victim James Te Aute yesterday described how he narrowly avoided a hail of bullets when a man sitting in a vehicle opened fire in an Auckland carpark.
Jackson Lemalu said he was walking in front of Mr Te Aute, his sister's partner and father of
her three children, towards the man's vehicle when the driver raised his arm and pointed what he thought was a gun at him.
Mr Lemalu said he instinctively dropped to the ground and almost immediately heard a "short burst" of gun fire.
The Crown alleges Antonie Ronnie Dixon, 38, fired the sub-machine gun and killed Mr Te Aute during a drug-fuelled crime spree that included a samurai sword attack on two women in January 2003.
Dixon denies murdering Mr Te Aute and the attempted murders of the women, Simonne Butler and Renee Gunbie.
He has also pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of two other people, shooting at a policeman, kidnapping and aggravated robbery.
Mr Lemalu, 27, said he had spent the night driving around with Mr Te Aute and friend Craig Grace. They met up with another friend, Steven Matthews, who was driving his own vehicle and looking after a 10-year-old boy.
They parked behind a Caltex Service Station in Highland Park, east Auckland, and put stolen number plates on the car before using a stolen credit card to fill up with gas. Mr Lemalu said he wanted to go home but Mr Te Aute wanted to stay in the carpark and smoke pure methamphetamine, or P.
A car allegedly driven by Dixon pulled up next to their vehicles sometime after midnight. Mr Lemalu said the driver started giving them the fingers and mouthing words they could not hear.
He and Mr Te Aute got out of their car and approached the man's vehicle in single file. "Before we even approached him to say anything, to see if we knew him, I noticed him raise his arm and I noticed something in his hand.
"It was just the way he raised his arm that made me react so I hit the ground. I heard shots and then, it just happened so fast."
Mr Lemalu said the car drove off and he ran about five metres after it before returning to find Mr Te Aute still lying on the ground. "I thought he had been hit in the mouth with something and he had a little bit of blood in his mouth. I thought he was knocked out, tried to help him up but he wasn't moving.
"I lifted his shirt up and noticed the blood and all the holes."
During a phone call to 111, a recording of which was played in the High Court at Auckland yesterday, Mr Lemalu told an operator he could see more than four bullet wounds in his friend's torso.
Under questioning from Dixon's lawyer Barry Hart, Mr Lemalu told the court that Mr Te Aute was addicted to pure methamphetamine and used it daily.
He said they were angry with the driver of the other car but denied they were going to fight him.
The trial continues on Monday.
The charges Antonie Dixon is accused of:
* Murdering James Te Aute.
* Attempting to murder Simonne Butler and Renee Gunbie.
* Two further charges of attempted murder, shooting at a police officer, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
A close friend of murder victim James Te Aute yesterday described how he narrowly avoided a hail of bullets when a man sitting in a vehicle opened fire in an Auckland carpark.
Jackson Lemalu said he was walking in front of Mr Te Aute, his sister's partner and father of
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