Murder on Dominion Rd: Rikki-Lee Simeon guilty of murdering his partner Brendon Hamilton

A young mother was found guilty of murdering her partner of 21 years, Brendon Hamilton.

Almost two years after Hamilton died in his Dominion Rd apartment and more than two weeks after Rikki-Lee Simeon pleaded not guilty to murder, jurors reached a verdict at 3:40 p.m. Wednesday.

Hamilton, 21, was stabbed in the neck in the Mt Eden apartment and died the same day that he and Simeon’s daughter Shyanne turned 1 year old.

The unanimous verdict of guilty in Auckland High Court brought some tears of relief to the Hamilton family, who had awaited justice since May 18, 2019.

But everyone in the public gallery, including Simeon’s supporters, was largely composed and quiet in the moments after the verdict was announced.

Hamilton’s loved ones outside the courthouse described their relief, one of whom said a burden was lifted from his shoulders after nearly two years.

Crown prosecutors Kirsten Lummis and Steven O’Connor brought a case that suggested Simeon had a history of being a violent and abusive girlfriend.

And the prosecution said that even if Simeon felt threatened, her use of a 12-inch kitchen knife against Hamilton in the early hours of May 18 was unreasonable.

The Crown also said that Simeon after his arrest provided unbelievable meandering accounts of what happened in the apartment.

Simeon was 18 years old at the time. Baby Shyanne lived with Hamilton’s mother, Adoniah Lorigan, in Rotorua.

Simeon told a crime scene sergeant that he stabbed Hamilton, then backtracked, and then told a detective that he had stabbed Hamilton, but by accident.

The defense said jurors could not rule out self-defense, and said police interviewed Simeon under questionable conditions, when he was hungry and unable to sleep.

Defense attorneys Paul Borich QC and John Munro advanced a case urging jurors not to deviate and speculate on what might have happened on the floor.

The defense said the relationship was not that of a vicious girlfriend and an intimidated boyfriend, but rather that Hamilton was capable of violence and assault.

Borich said the Crown presented a great deal of superfluous information that did not bring jurors any closer to knowing how or why the stabbing occurred.

“Of course we cannot look into Miss Simeon’s mind,” said Judge Neil Campbell in summing up the case Wednesday morning.

Judge Campbell said the Crown had to persuade jurors that Simeon used unreasonable force in the circumstances.

Prosecutors said Simeon consciously risked Hamilton dying as a result of her using the kitchen knife and stabbing him in the throat.

Two security guards flanked Simeon on the dock when she was found guilty of murder.

At one point, he briefly tilted his head back and then nodded when Judge Neil Campbell warned the court that Simeon must remain in custody.

Simeon will be sentenced on April 13.