Mongrel Mob murder trial: Rotorua man possibly 'dragged' around lawn while beaten to death

Mongrel Mob member Raymond Jury appears in the Rotorua High Court charged with murder. Photo / Ben Fraser

Bloodied and bashed Rotorua man Trevor Rikihana may have been dragged around his lawn between being beaten to death, a forensic scientist has suggested.

Forensic scientist Jason Barr from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research shared his findings as Crown evidence in the High Court trial of Raymond Jury, who has pleaded not guilty to bashing to death fellow Rogue Mongrel Mob member Trevor Rikihana.

Barr examined the crime scene at Rikihana's Owhata home in the days following his death on January 30, 2019.

His findings were analysed in the High Court court in Rotorua today. Large spots of heavy and probable blood staining were found by luminol in different parts of Rikihana's garden, as well as blood-stained footprints, Barr told the jury.

Barr suggested that an object wet with Rikihana's blood appeared to have been "dragged" around the lawn, smearing bloodstains in different places.

He said there was a chance that this object was Rikihana himself.

Blood was also found on a shoeprint on the lawn, Barr said. He said the shoe likely belonged to another person.

He made this assumption because Rikihana had not been wearing shoes when his body was taken to hospital, he said.

Notable bloodstains were also found on a T-shirt, a towel, a chair, a wheelie bin and the grip of a hammer all found at the property, Barr said,

In cross-examination, Jury's lawyer Bill Nabney questioned if the blood on the grip of the hammer could, in fact, have come from someone holding the hammer and having a cut or bloodied hands. Barr said this could be a possibility.

Later in the day, DNA analysis specialist Timothy Power from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research took the stand.

He confirmed that there was strong scientific evidence that it was Rikihana's blood found on a part of the lawn and on the driveway of his property.

There was also strong evidence that Rikihana's blood was found on both the towel and hammer grip from the scene, Power said.

However, there was strong scientific evidence that the blood found on the light switch in Rikihana's room was Jury's, he said.

In an affidavit produced by Jury, he stated that he had been at Rikihana's home the week before January 30 to help him with his fence and cut himself. He said this would explain the blood on the light switch.

In the same statement, he said that he regarded Rikihana as a "brother" and he denied assaulting or killing him.

Crown prosecutor Duncan McWilliam went on to outline Jury's movements in the hours after Rikihana's assault and death.

He said Jury had arrived at a petrol station in Tauhara near Taupō and bought both petrol and a bag of ice.

About 7.30am, Jury arrived at Hawke's Bay Hospital where he told a nurse he had been hit in the head by a hammer about 2am in Rotorua, McWilliam said.

She asked if police were involved and he said "not yet", McWilliam said.

He had a "swollen left eye", a cut on his left cheek, a fractured eye socket, cheekbone and injured jaw.

The nurse assessed that he did not need immediate medical attention and he was discharged, the prosecutor said.

The next morning about 6.05am, the car Jury had been driving was found "burnt out" on a rural Hastings road, McWilliam said.

In the affidavit, Jury said he knew nothing about the burnt-out car and denied leaving Rotorua on the morning of January 30 to resist arrest.

The Crown has wrapped up its case. The trial continues.