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REVIEW: The 2012 trial of Ewen Macdonald for the murder of Scott Guy was a perfect storm of sensational media coverage developing a story that would make any Hollywood blockbuster proud.
Scott Guy was handsome, successful, a devoted husband and father, and a popular figure in the rural community in which he worked. Ewen had married Scott’s sister.
The brothers-in-law had quarreled in the past over who would inherit the farm and who was or was not doing their part in their business partnership.
When Guy’s body was found one morning in July 2010, the police investigation seemed to have interested Macdonald from the beginning.
Craig Simcox / Stuff
Attorney Greg King, who defended Ewen Macdonald and worked on Scott Watson’s appeal, is the subject of a new TVNZ documentary, Friend of the Friendless.
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* Ewen Macdonald’s murder trial at the heart of TVNZ’s new docu-drama
* Greg King and Christchurch attacks: NZ On Air focuses on ‘important’ Kiwi stories
TVNZ
Ewen Macdonald was found not guilty of Scott Guy’s murder in 2012.
The Crown case was that Macdonald’s motive, means and character added to the proof of his guilt. It was a narrative that also worked well in the media. There cannot be many people following the case in the newspapers who were not already convinced that a guilty verdict was inevitable.
What we didn’t know was that, behind the scenes, one of New Zealand’s finest legal minds had been diligently dismantling the Crown’s arguments and finding them wanting. The documentary Friend of the friendless (TVNZ 1, Oct 15 at 8pm and TVNZ OnDemand) is a delay, but exceptionally well done, look at the trial and the life story of defense attorney Greg King.
King was already as well known as any lawyer in the country for his work on the Scott Watson appeal. But his team’s defense of Ewen Macdonald would make him a household name.
For four weeks in 2012, King and his small team demolished the motive, proving that Macdonald had not been the man to leave distinctive boot prints at the crime scene, casting huge doubts on the police chronology of events, and generally , they raised enough questions about the case that it took the jury less than a day to decide that Macdonald was innocent and, presumably, that Guy’s killer was still at large.
Friend of the friendless makes a strong argument that the police were too focused on Macdonald from the beginning, when there was at least one other strong competitor for the role of “prime suspect.”
This is a rigorous and fascinating look at a case that can still divide a room eight years after the verdict was rendered. But Friend of the friendless it is more than that. When Greg King died shortly after the case ended, he added a tragic coda to a story that had captivated the country for two years.
Director Yvonne McKay and writer Dave Armstrong have put together a wonderful reminder of who King was and the price he paid.
Netflix
I’m No Longer Here is now streaming on Netflix.
Elsewhere, a friend of mine who knows more about good movie making than most of us recently pointed me out to an unknown gem on Netflix.
I’m not here anymore is a Mexican / North American co-production set in Monterrey, Mexico and Queens in New York City.
The film follows a young dancer, already brilliant enough, moving to the beat of Central American cumbia music, as he is forced to flee to New York after accidentally offending a local gang leader.
What follows is a lightly recounted drama of dislocation and discovery, set in a context of music, dance, young love, and community. I’m not here anymore it is a soft triumph. Have a look.
