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A street fight in a small town escalated until a man was killed with an ax, a court has heard.
Rydell Tuaupiki Martin, 27, is charged with the fatal ax blow he struck Phillip Macpherson after what began as “an outing” on the street of a small settlement in North Waikato.
Macpherson’s wound was described as “urinating blood” and he died in the Pukemiro settlement, north of Waikato, the night of the incident on March 1, 2019.
Martin is on trial for murder in Hamilton Superior Court.
He admits to having struck the fatal ax blow, but says he is guilty of manslaughter, said his defense attorney Philip Morgan QC.
The first blows were with the blunt side of the ax, Crown Prosecutor Rebecca Mann said, but then Martin struck the fatal blow with the blade “very revealingly on what was going through his mind.”
Tom Lee / Stuff
Emergency services were called to the Pukemiro settlement in Waikato, but Phillip Macpherson was pronounced dead.
The Crown says he repeatedly struck Macpherson with the intent to kill, or at least knowing the injuries could be fatal and knowingly taking the risk.
The fatal blow, to Macpherson’s right leg, severed an artery, prosecutor Rebecca Mann said.
But the jury will have to consider what actually happened at this shocking event, Morgan said.
Affected people will make mistakes when retelling events, he said.
“Some people were at a distance, it was in the dark, lit only by lights. It ended very quickly.”
The defense says some witnesses are simply not telling the truth, he said.
Martin is also charged with assault, as he struck another man, his cousin, with the ax in the fray.
There has been talk of bad blood in a small town, heard the court and accusations have been made about the theft of a chainsaw, but it is still unclear why the fatal altercation began.
The two groups involved had met earlier that day, Mann said.
And Martin wasn’t the only one to act aggressively in the run-up to the fatal fight.
“The missing chainsaw and the allegations made about it have obviously sparked a level of excitement from several people present.”
The night of the incident, Macpherson had drinks with friends and then went to another house.
Macpherson’s friends later heard screams and screams on the street and thought he was in trouble.
They knew that Macpherson had been involved in “altercations” with people in the township before, Jonothan Shand said on the witness stand.
Shand and another friend, Shaun Matangi, went down the road looking for Macpherson.
Shand had a firewood cutter, which was later used at Macpherson, and a vacuum pipe for self-defense.
“It was a stupid decision,” Shand said.
“How do you feel looking back at the decision now?” Mann asked.
“I feel like a piece of shit,” Shand replied.
They did not find Macpherson, but they did meet a group of young men, including some they had seen earlier that day.
The group yelled insults at Shand’s then-partner, Macpherson’s sister, when she drove and aggressively asked about the guns when they saw Shand, she told the court.
There was some tension before Macpherson appeared, heading down the hill and past Matangi, who thought things had settled down and was heading back to the house.
According to Matangi, Macpherson was yelling that the men had hit his sister’s car with the vacuum cleaner tube.
Macpherson initiated a “one-out” with a man on the scene, Martin’s cousin.
He and his friends thought the man’s family was likely responsible for the theft of the chainsaw, according to the Crown case.
Shand, who was watching the fight, protested when a third man joined him, saying it was unfair to Macpherson.
But they jumped him from behind and took his ax from him, he said.
Macpherson had no chance to retreat when Martin pounced on him, according to the Crown case.
Martin used both the blunt side of the ax and the blade, Mann said, and appeared to be preparing a real hit when someone took the log cutter from him.
Macpherson appeared lifeless when Shand returned after seeking help at the home, he told the court.
He drove Macpherson home and tied a hoodie around his leg “because the blood was peeing.”
Friends, family and emergency services tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead shortly after 10 p.m.
Morgan questioned witnesses about
The jury trial continues before Judge Mary Peters and is scheduled for two weeks.
