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Aaron George Izett inflicted violence that was “brutal in the extreme” before killing his daughter and the only proper verdict on his murder charge is guilty.
That’s according to Crown Prosecutor Kieran Raftery QC, who summarized the case against Izett on the 11th day of his trial in Rotorua Superior Court.
Izett faces a series of assault and battery charges, and one charge that between March 20 and March 21 last year, he murdered Nevaeh Ager at Little Waihi in the Bay of Plenty.
It’s a murder for which Izett admitted responsibility on the first day of the trial.
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“Mr. Izett accepted that he killed his daughter, accepts that he is responsible for her death … the physical act is not in dispute,” said defense attorney Nicholas Chisnall.
The Crown alleged that Izett, a habitual methamphetamine user, killed his daughter in a “methamphetamine attack” after assaulting her with a weapon or weapons and then placing her in the estuary behind her home to drown.
Crown prosecutor Anna Pollett said the girl had been subjected to “assault for assault for assault” before she drowned.
Raftery told the jury that the claim that Izett is not guilty of dementia had been dismissed by two psychiatrists, and also pointed to the idea that he said the defense would raise that Izett could not be held liable due to his drug intoxication.
“If you take drugs, drink, smoke methamphetamine, and then do things that you might not have done when sober, that doesn’t excuse you … that’s because you have taken those drugs voluntarily.
Benn Bathgate / Stuff
Aaron George Izett has admitted to killing his daughter, although he has denied the murder.
Raftery also disagreed with Izett’s claim that he had been forced to drink a methamphetamine drink from “gangsters” who had kidnapped him for a drug debt, an incident that he claimed explained his erratic behavior at the time of the murder.
He made specific reference to Izett’s claim that his phone, which had the text message from the “gangsters” calling him into a meeting, had stayed with them.
“He’s already thought about the future, ‘the phone got the gang,’ and that tells you something about Mr. Izett’s thought process. He’s thinking a little bit carefully about the evidence and fitting in with it, ”Raftery said.
“The whole story is to try to explain the enormity of the crime against his daughter, trying to manipulate us.”
He also said that it was “strange” to suggest that “gangsters” would write off a debt in this way.
“They are saying that you have not paid for your medications, here are some more.”
Benn Bathgate / Stuff
The two-year-old’s body was discovered in the mudflats behind Tio Place in Little Waihi after police attended what was initially believed to be simply a call for annoying behavior.
Raftery also spoke extensively about the evidence provided by pathologist Dr. Rexson Tse.
“Something horrible that this man did to his daughter, brutal in the extreme and the volume of blows says it all in itself, something like 80 separate injuries that Dr. Tse commented.”
Raftery said the boy would have suffered “a severe reign of terror.”
“A sustained assault to get that many hits in that many areas.”
He also said that any verdict of insanity had to start with the jury agreeing that Izett was suffering from “mental illness” at the time of the murder.
“Dr. Barry-Walsh and Dr. Dean agree, there is no indication of a mental disorder diagnosis in this case.”
The fact that Izett also later admitted to lying to both psychiatrists also “tells you a lot about Mr. Izett’s credibility,” Raftery said.
For the defense summary, Julie-Anne Kincade QC told the jury that they should reach either verdict.
“The verdict in this case must be innocent because of no intention, or innocent because of insanity.”
Kincade said Izett’s alleged crime and admitted murder were the culmination of a series of stresses he faced, including the loss of his home, an impending baby and financial problems.
“The combination of the factors and the pressure created, along with Mr. Izett’s underlying state of mind and drug use, combined to lead to the breaking and breaking of his mind,” he said.
He also told the jury about the high level of certainty they must agree on before issuing guilty verdicts.
“It could have been the intention, possibly the intention, probably the intention. That’s not enough “.
He also said it was significant that in what would be the only time Izett had cared for his daughter alone, when Alyson Ager was taken to the hospital after going into labor, “no one thought it would hurt her.”
Kincade also pointed to what he described as increasing levels of mental instability displayed by Izett in the run-up to the murder.
He said his admitted use of methamphetamine “does not explain all of these characteristics.”
“The action [the killing] he agrees, but we ask him to consider the mental part to accompany him, “he said.
“There is absolutely no evidence that he had the intention of killing her, there is the fact that it happened and that is not denied, but there is more than that.”
He also said that some evidence from the two psychiatrists supported his claim that Izett had a ‘disease of the mind’ or was insane, and cited forensic psychiatrist Dr. Justin Barry-Walsh.
“If you look at your mental state at the time, it’s the kind that you might expect to affect your ability to think.
“Without a doubt, his psychosis made his thinking completely irrational.”
Judge Christine Gordon will provide her summary Wednesday morning before the jury retires to consider its verdict.
