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Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Murder-accused admits storing mate's body and disposing of it

By melissa.wishart@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
Whanganui Chronicle·
6 Nov, 2015 08:00 PM3 mins to read

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GRISLY DETAILS: Neil Swain is accused of sealing a body in a 44-gallon drum.

GRISLY DETAILS: Neil Swain is accused of sealing a body in a 44-gallon drum.

Linton man Neil Raymond Swain was worried about something happening to his friend, who would later die of fatal wounds, a court heard yesterday.

The 58-year-old Swain is accused of shooting Whetu Hansen about five times on November 24, 2013 during an argument over equipment Mr Hansen had taken.

Swain is accused of hiding the body for about 10 days before sealing it in a 44-gallon drum and dumping it in the Whanganui River. Mr Hansen's body has never been found.

The defence case is that Mr Hansen showed up to Swain's Akers Rd property already fatally wounded, and died a short time later.

Swain accepts he stored the body and disposed of it, but denies he committed the murder, defence lawyer Mike Antunovic told the jury of six men and six women at the beginning of Swain's murder trial in the High Court at Palmerston North this week.

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Mr Hansen's daughter Kaewa Hansen gave evidence yesterday, saying she had seen the two together "a lot over the years" and had never seen them argue.

She said Swain came to her not long before Mr Hansen's disappearance.

"He was worried about my dad, like something was going to happen to him."

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Swain told her Mr Hansen shouldn't trust any of his friends, and that they "wanted to take stuff of his".

Ms Hansen described her father as someone who couldn't be approached when he was upset, but said he had become more approachable over the past year before his disappearance.

The jury was later played a recording of a phone call between Swain and his neighbour, Hamish Mouat.

Neither man knew police were recording the conversation on December 7, 2013.

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During the conversation, the pair spoke about police searching Swain's property. Swain could be heard saying there would be "a bit of blood in one of the vehicles".

"My mate got in a bit of a scuffle," Swain said.

Another witness, Sonya Reweti, said Mr Hansen had been angrier than usual over the past few months before he disappeared.

Friend Tania Lepper said Mr Hansen was "always looking over his shoulder", but that was usual for people who had spent many years in jail.

One woman said she witnessed a heated argument between Mr Hansen and Swain in early November 2013.

"Whetu said, 'I'm not going to have you f*** me over'," Patricia Stewart told the court.

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She said she eventually stepped in and said: "If you're going to carry on like this you might as well get some boxing gloves and a ring," she said.

Mr Antunovic pointed out inconsistencies between Ms Stewart's evidence and her first police statement in 2013. He said she didn't mention the argument in her first police statement.

Ms Stewart said she hadn't realised at the time what had happened to Mr Hansen and was not used to speaking to police officers about her friends.

Another witness, Michelle Hina, told the court she thought Mr Hansen and Swain were very good friends and Mr Hansen absolutely trusted Swain.

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