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Speaker 1: This month marks my nineteenth year in journalism, with all

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Speaker 1: but the first three months of that time covering crime

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Speaker 1: and justice and significant disasters in New Zealand. Over that time,

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Speaker 1: I've written about almost eighty homicides, hundreds of victims and

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Speaker 1: their families, and spent countless hours in court at trials

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Speaker 1: and sentencing, appeal and parole hearings. Recently, a number of

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Speaker 1: cases I covered earlier in my career are coming back

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Speaker 1: into the spotlight as offenders reached their parole eligibility date.

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Speaker 1: People jailed for murder in ordered to serve a minimum

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Speaker 1: of seven, ten and even seventeen years are coming back

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Speaker 1: on my radar as they enter the next phase of

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Speaker 1: the justice process. These offenders coming back into the spotlight

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Speaker 1: reminds me that there's no end point for the victims

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Speaker 1: of crime. Grief and hurt does not relinquish its grip

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Speaker 1: on them when a killer or abuser is sent to prism.

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Speaker 1: They live with their heartbreak forever, and it's always exacerbated

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Speaker 1: when it comes time to start the parole process or

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Speaker 1: when the offender is released back into the community. One

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Speaker 1: of these offenders is a man named Michael Thrift Murray

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Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen, he was convicted of murdering Connor Morris

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Speaker 1: in a West Auckland street during a random street brawl

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Speaker 1: between groups from separate parties. Connor's death was extremely high profile.

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Speaker 1: He was a patched gang member, the son of a

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Speaker 1: feared senior gang member, and his partner and her family were,

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Speaker 1: for lack of a better word, celebrities in New Zealand.

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Speaker 1: I covered the trial of Connor's killer. I was there

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Speaker 1: when a jury found him guilty of murder and when

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Speaker 1: a judge sentenced him to life in prison. This case

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Speaker 1: is one I've never forgotten. Connor was no angel, and

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Speaker 1: his family were not perfect, but he and they were victims.

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Speaker 1: On the night he died, Connor was an innocent and

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Speaker 1: unsuspecting victim, and every day after that his family had

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Speaker 1: suffered a pain no sibling or parent deserves. Regardless of

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Speaker 1: your lifestyle or life choices, you have the right to live.

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Speaker 1: As I'm recording this episode of a Moment in Crime,

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Speaker 1: Connor's family are going through their first encounter with the

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Speaker 1: parole board, which has undoubtedly had a massive impact on them.

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Speaker 1: Michael Thrift Murray was ordered to serve a minimum of

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Speaker 1: ten years behind bars, taking into account the time he

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Speaker 1: spent on remand before his trial and sentencing. He became

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Speaker 1: eligible for parole on October thirteenth, twenty twenty four. This

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Speaker 1: episode of A Moment in Crime was published around the

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Speaker 1: same time as the Parole Board hearing. To find out

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Speaker 1: what happened at that hearing and whether Michael Murray was released,

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Speaker 1: go to ends at Herald dot co dot enzed. But

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Speaker 1: for now I'll take you back to the night Connor

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Speaker 1: was killed, who was there, what happened, and why Michael

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Speaker 1: Murray did what he did. I'll then tell you about

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Speaker 1: the trial, the Crown case in Murray's defense, what happened

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Speaker 1: when the jury returned their verdict, and what happened at sentencing.

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Speaker 1: As always, I'll include links to the previous stories I've

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Speaker 1: published in the show notes for those who want to

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Speaker 1: read more about this case. From the whodunnits in cold

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Speaker 1: cases to the strange and quirky, crime is one of

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Speaker 1: the most fascinating corners of society and the news. From

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Speaker 1: the New Zealand Herald newsroom comes A Moment in Crime,

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Speaker 1: a podcast delving into some of New Zealand's most high

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Speaker 1: profile cases, offenses, and Offenders. Each month, I'll take you

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Speaker 1: inside some of our most infamous incidents, notorious offenders, and

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Speaker 1: behind the scenes of high profile trials and events to

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Speaker 1: show you what's really happening in your backyard. In July

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Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, Simeon Morris and her partner moved into a

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Speaker 1: new house with their kids on don Buck Road in

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Speaker 1: West Auckland. They spent a couple of weeks getting settled

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Speaker 1: and then embarted family and friends over for a housewarming

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Speaker 1: party on the second of August, a Saturday. Most people

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Speaker 1: came for a drink, stayed for the barbecue, and then

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Speaker 1: headed off. By late evening, just ten guests left, among

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Speaker 1: them Simeon's brother Connor and his partner Milly, and three

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Speaker 1: of their friends, Obi, John and Josh. Just before midnight,

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Speaker 1: they ran out of mixes for their drinks, and Obi,

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Speaker 1: John and Josh volunteered to walk to a nearby service

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Speaker 1: station and buy some more. Connor asked them to grab

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Speaker 1: him a packet of cigarettes. Absolutely nothing was amiss. Five

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Speaker 1: houses along the street, another party was under way. Ayosha

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Speaker 1: Tahoe was living at number four hundred and three C

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Speaker 1: with a young child and seventeen year old brother, Trevor Moranger.

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Speaker 1: Her place was the fourth down a long driveway. She

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Speaker 1: had organized a twenty first birthday party for another brother, Karl,

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Speaker 1: and his girlfriend, who share a birthday. People started showing

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Speaker 1: up to her place from seven pm. Like the housewarming

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Speaker 1: at Simeon's, there was drinking and music. Unlike the housewarming,

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Speaker 1: the twenty first became violent. Trevor was drunk and started

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Speaker 1: to play up wrestling with his older brother. Soon after,

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Speaker 1: he got a punch in the face from his older cousin,

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Speaker 1: Seamous Wedder, who felt the teen needed pulling into line.

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Speaker 1: At that point, Asha decided she'd had enough and shut

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Speaker 1: the party down. She kicked her brothers and cousin out

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Speaker 1: and went inside. The party was over as far as

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Speaker 1: she was concerned. The men didn't want to end their

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Speaker 1: nights early, so they walked up the driveway, stopping at

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Speaker 1: the house at the top. Michael Murray and his younger

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Speaker 1: brother Stanley, more cousins of Seamus, lived in a sleep

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Speaker 1: out at the back of the house. They joined the

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Speaker 1: group for a few drinks on the deck. They chatted,

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Speaker 1: some got more intoxicated, and eventually they became too noisy

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Speaker 1: and the people in the main house told them to

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Speaker 1: move along. They walked to the street and seconds later

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Speaker 1: saw three men walking towards them. Obie, John and Josh

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Speaker 1: Karl said to Trevor, look watch this. I'll kick them,

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Speaker 1: but Trevor's brother got in first. He shouted out to

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Speaker 1: the men something like what's up, before walking towards them,

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Speaker 1: saying he wanted to share hands. Trevor then approached Obi

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Speaker 1: and kicked him in the face, causing him to stumble backwards.

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Speaker 1: Obi was bleeding and as John went to him, Josh

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Speaker 1: ran back to Simeon's place, shouting that he was going

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Speaker 1: to get help. He sprinted down the driveway and said

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Speaker 1: the group had been jumped. Connor was the first to

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Speaker 1: run towards the road. Millie followed him and was fifteen

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Speaker 1: meters behind him when they reached the group. Within seconds,

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Speaker 1: the men were brawling. Millie tried to stop Connor, Obi

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Speaker 1: dragged her away to the footpath. He then ran back

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Speaker 1: in to help John, who was fighting two men. What

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Speaker 1: happened next happened fast. Michael Murray had decided he needed

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Speaker 1: a weapon. He'd heard someone mention the eighty eighths, another

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Speaker 1: name for the notorious Headhunter's gang. He felt his group

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Speaker 1: were outnumbered and overpowered by the men from up the road,

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Speaker 1: so he ran back to his place and grabbed a

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Speaker 1: long handled cutting tool he'd been using earlier to slash

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Speaker 1: grass around the side of the sleepout.

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Speaker 2: It would later be described as a sickle.

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Speaker 1: When he got back to the road, he saw his

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Speaker 1: younger brother Stanley under attack, being thrown around and punched.

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Speaker 1: He worried that Stanley was going to be seriously hurt,

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Speaker 1: and he raised the garden tool. He shouted, leave my

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Speaker 1: brother alone, and when the attacker ignored his plea, he

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Speaker 1: closed his eyes and swung the sickle. The point and

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Speaker 1: the blade of the sickle entered the side of Connor

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Speaker 1: Morris's head just behind the ear. The point broke through

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Speaker 1: his skull. Connor collapsed immediately. Milly saw him drop and

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Speaker 1: ran to him. Obie had turned in that direction seconds

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Speaker 1: before and also saw Connor go down. Murray helped Stanley up,

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Speaker 1: and they ran back to the sleeper, throwing the sickle

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Speaker 1: back into the garden on their way. I think I've

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Speaker 1: just killed someone, Murray said. Then they heard a woman's scream.

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Speaker 1: When Milly got to Connor, she could tell he was

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Speaker 1: in a bad way. She sat and cradled his head,

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Speaker 1: trying to stem the blood gushing from his wound. Someone

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Speaker 1: called emergency services, and the first police to arrive at

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Speaker 1: the scene said it was like a war zone.

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Speaker 2: It was chaos.

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Speaker 1: People were running around, yelling, screaming. Milly was bereft. An

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Speaker 1: ambulance arrived and a paramedic went to assess Connor. His

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Speaker 1: heart had stopped, and the paramedic knew there was a

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Speaker 1: little chance he would survive. It was dark in the

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Speaker 1: street and little could be done for Connor there, so

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Speaker 1: they loaded him into an ambulance and rushed him to

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Speaker 1: Auckland City Hospital. By then, Connor's dad.

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Speaker 2: Chris, was at the scene.

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Speaker 1: He had been at Simeon's early but had gone home.

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Speaker 1: He raced back to Donbuck Road when he heard what

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Speaker 1: had happened. Chris jumped in the ambulance with his boy

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Speaker 1: and Millie climbed into the front seat. The paramedic would

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Speaker 1: later say, we put monitoring leads on the patient. His

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Speaker 1: heart wasn't beating. We were then in a cardiac arrest situation. Generally,

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Speaker 1: the outcome in that situation is not very good, the

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Speaker 1: paramedics said, Chris focused on talking to his son the

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Speaker 1: whole way to the hospital. He also tried to calm

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Speaker 1: a very distressed Milly, at one time, telling her to

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Speaker 1: sit down and keep quiet in her seat. They arrived

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Speaker 1: at the hospital, but there was nothing anyone could do

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Speaker 1: to help Connor. He was pronounced dead about ten minutes later.

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Speaker 1: Within hours, news of Connor's death was being reported by

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Speaker 1: the media. Any murder, particularly one resulting from a violent

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Speaker 1: public brawl, as a significant news event, but given the

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Speaker 1: victim was Connor Morris, this was a massive story. Connor

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Speaker 1: Morris was a patched member of the Headhunter's Motorcycle Club,

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Speaker 1: one of the main gangs in Auckland. His father, Chris Morris,

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Speaker 1: was a senior member of the same gang, and of course, Milly,

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Speaker 1: his partner of six years, was the daughter of prominent

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Speaker 1: and brilliant broadcaster Sir Paul Holmes and children's television presenter

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Speaker 1: turned youth forensic psychiatrist Henemoa Alder. Her parents' fame resulted

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Speaker 1: in Millie being on the spotlight for much of her life.

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Speaker 1: Milly and Connor's relationship also made the news, as did

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Speaker 1: their relationship with the drug p pure meth emphetamine. Both

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Speaker 1: struggled with addiction, and I actually began reporting on the

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Speaker 1: couple in twenty ten when they were facing various criminal charges.

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Speaker 1: Milly later admitted that she smoked meth for the first

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Speaker 1: time around her eighteenth birthday, and she had been using

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Speaker 1: for about five years. At one point she had one

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars a day drug habit. Connor was also hooked

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Speaker 1: on meth. They eventually dealt with all of their charges,

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Speaker 1: Millie narrowly avoiding prison at one stage, and they got clean.

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Speaker 1: The couple gave up meth together and without professional help,

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Speaker 1: by living a hermit like existence, eating, sleeping, and watching

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Speaker 1: TV in their west Auckland flat. By twenty fourteen, they

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Speaker 1: had turned their lives around. Connor was working as a

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Speaker 1: site manager for a concrete construction company. Millie had launched

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Speaker 1: herself as a health and lifestyle influencer, setting up a

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Speaker 1: Facebook page where she promoted recipes and workout ideas.

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Speaker 2: In line with her outlook unhealthy living.

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Speaker 1: The couple had even traveled to Asia, Dubai, Italy, Paris, Amsterdam,

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Speaker 1: and Greece, where Milly's biological father lives on an oe.

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Speaker 1: In February twenty thirteen, Sir Paul Holmes passed away aged

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Speaker 1: just sixty two. He had been in poor health since

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Speaker 1: having heart surgery earlier in the year. In the months

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Speaker 1: before his death, he had also been suffering from a

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Speaker 1: resurgence of prostate cancer. His death came just two weeks

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Speaker 1: after he was knighted. Photos of Milli and Connor at

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Speaker 1: his investiture showed a happy, healthy and relaxed looking young couple,

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Speaker 1: a far cry from photos captured of them outside Auckland

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Speaker 1: court houses years earlier. In June twenty fourteen, they celebrated

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Speaker 1: their sixth anniversary, and it was reported around that time

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Speaker 1: that they were looking forward to a future filled with

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Speaker 1: new opportunities, with talk of children on the cards. But

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Speaker 1: early on that cold Sunday morning in August, their love

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Speaker 1: story came to a crushing end. Hours after Connor died,

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Speaker 1: police issued a statement they acknowledged the link to the

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Speaker 1: Headhunter's gang, but were very clear that what had happened

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Speaker 1: to Connor had nothing to do with that. Detective Inspector

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Speaker 1: Greg Kramer said Connor was the victim of a random attack.

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Speaker 1: He said a post mortem confirmed Connor had sustained a

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Speaker 1: fatal head injury. He said a weapon is believed to

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Speaker 1: be involved, but exactly what type of weapon is yet

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Speaker 1: to be determined. When police arrived at last night's scene,

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Speaker 1: there were around fifteen people on the road, and it's

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Speaker 1: believed that up to another fifteen were at a nearby address.

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Speaker 1: One of the key elements of the investigation is to

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Speaker 1: determine exactly who and how many people were involved. Police

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Speaker 1: are speaking to a number of people in order to

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Speaker 1: build a full picture of last night's events and will

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Speaker 1: not be drawn on any interactions with individuals at this

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Speaker 1: stage of the investigation. Police believed this was a random

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Speaker 1: attack and the victim was not specifically targeted. There is

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Speaker 1: currently nothing to suggest the fight was the result of

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Speaker 1: any gang tensions, and police can confirm it did not

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Speaker 1: occur at a gang address. Mister Morris's family are understandably traumatized.

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Speaker 1: After the post mortem, Connor's body was released to his family.

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Speaker 1: He was taken to Lyon's state at the headquarters of

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Speaker 1: the East chapter of the Headhunters in Allesley, a site

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Speaker 1: which doubled as a community boxing gym. His funeral was

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Speaker 1: held there four days after he died. Hundreds of gang

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Speaker 1: members of different patches and their associates mingled with high society.

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Speaker 1: Millie's stepmother, Lady Deborah Holmes, and friends of her father,

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Speaker 1: including a former deputy Prime minister, attended. A powerful hucker

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Speaker 1: was performed before a roaring motorcade escorted the hearse carrying

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Speaker 1: Connor's body to a west Auckland crematorium.

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Speaker 2: After the wake, Millie.

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Speaker 1: Spoke for the first time about Connor's death, posting a

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Speaker 1: tribute on social media.

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Speaker 2: This is what she wrote.

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Speaker 1: When you meet that person you're meant to be with

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Speaker 1: for the rest of your life, you just know you

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Speaker 1: get drawn towards someone, so it's hard not to notice.

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Speaker 2: I felt this happened when I first met Connor.

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Speaker 1: He came into my life at a time when no

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Speaker 1: one mattered to me, not even myself, and changed everything.

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Speaker 1: He was not only my strength, but my weakness. I

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Speaker 1: could never say no to him. He was my best friend,

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Speaker 1: my protector, and for a while there, my Clyde. He

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Speaker 1: taught me so much about life. He always encouraged and

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Speaker 1: pushed me to reach my goals and aspirations and gave

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Speaker 1: me the best advice. We went through so much together,

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Speaker 1: grew so much together during the years we shared, and

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Speaker 1: now he's gone. I feel like I have lost a

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Speaker 1: part of me. I will miss every little thing about him,

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Speaker 1: especially his laugh. He made me feel so safe and loved.

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Speaker 1: Every memory I have worth having is with him, and

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Speaker 1: I still can't believe he's been taken from me like this.

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Speaker 1: He was everything to me. Rest easy, baby. I love

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Speaker 1: you more than I can say. You took my heart

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Speaker 1: with you when you were taken from us, but there's

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Speaker 1: no one else I'd rather have it. Connor's dad, Cress,

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Speaker 1: also posted a public message to his boy. He wrote, Connor,

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Speaker 1: you made me proud. You were the perfect son, my

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Speaker 1: best friend. You grew into a man of honor with

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Speaker 1: high morals, a man who will always be love and missed.

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Speaker 1: So go on your journey until we meet again. Love

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Speaker 1: from Mum and Dad and his sister Simeon. I never

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Speaker 1: thought i'd lose you. We were meant to grow old together,

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Speaker 1: enjoy life together, and eventually you were meant to give

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Speaker 1: my daughters some cousins to play with. The Police investigation

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Speaker 1: into Connor's death, dubbed Operation Venice, continued and on August eighteen,

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Speaker 1: police announced an arrest had been made. A thirty three

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Speaker 1: year old man had appeared in the Kakaya District Court

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Speaker 1: charged with murder. He'd been arrested in the Far North

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Speaker 1: town earlier that day. He was granted interim name suppression

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Speaker 1: and remanded in custody until his next appearance in the

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Speaker 1: High Court at Auckland the next month. Anyone charge with

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Speaker 1: criminal offending in New Zealand makes their first appearance in

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Speaker 1: the district court closest to where they have been arrested.

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Speaker 1: For the most serious charges, including murder and manslaughter, the

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Speaker 1: case is transferred to the High Court. On September three,

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Speaker 1: the accused killer was led into the dock again as

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00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,760
Speaker 1: Connor's parents, Milly, and other family and friends watched on

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Speaker 1: from the public gallery. He was represented by Marie Dieberg,

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Speaker 1: one of the most experienced defense lawyers in the country.

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Speaker 1: She told the court that the man would be defending

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Speaker 1: the charge, and his plea of not guilty was formally entered.

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Speaker 1: A four week trial was scheduled for August the next year.

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Speaker 1: Dieberg asked for a continuation of her client's name suppression

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Speaker 1: on the basis of significant danger to him and his family.

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Speaker 1: The judge refused the application, but the lawyer indicated she

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Speaker 1: would appeal against that decision extending suppression. On September twenty,

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Speaker 1: the Court of Appeal firmed to hearing would be held

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Speaker 1: to decide the suppression issue. Three days later, though the

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Speaker 1: appeal was abandoned and the order lapsed. We could now

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Speaker 1: name the man charged with murdering Connor Morris Michael Thrift Murray.

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Speaker 1: There was little else we could publish about him, though,

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Speaker 1: until his trial, so headlines about Connor's death in the

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00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:24,080
Speaker 1: aftermath slowly faded. In July twenty fifteen, the trial date

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00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,560
Speaker 1: was confirmed. It would begin on August three, the first

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Speaker 1: anniversary of Conner's death. His family were devastated, but little

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Speaker 1: could be done about the date. Days before, they planned

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Speaker 1: a memorial ride for Connor, where they would travel in

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Speaker 1: convoy with friends and associates from Swanson and West Auckland

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Speaker 1: to the Fight Club eighty eight building where his funeral

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Speaker 1: was held, stopping on don Buck Road near where he

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Speaker 1: died to pay their respects. A memorial garden had been

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Speaker 1: erected on the road side where Connor took his last breath,

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Speaker 1: with a plaque bearing his name and dates of birth

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Speaker 1: and death. Family and friends regularly visited the site, which

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Speaker 1: became known as Connor's Corner to remember him. Chris Morris

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Speaker 1: led the ride atop Connor's bike, which had been freshly

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Speaker 1: painted with his name and portrait. Chris told The Herald

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Speaker 1: that he didn't want the occasion to be a sad day,

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Speaker 1: but instead a celebration of his son's life. He said afterwards,

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Speaker 1: the day went well. It was a good turnout and

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Speaker 1: that's pretty much it really. It was a good day,

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Speaker 1: not a sad day. It's a celebration. The New Zealand

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Speaker 1: public has been awesome. There's a lot of nice people

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Speaker 1: in this country without prejudice. Hundreds of people turned out

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Speaker 1: for the event, either as part of the convoy all

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Speaker 1: meeting at the club or Connor's Corner. Milly was there

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Speaker 1: but didn't speak to media, understandably, but she later posted

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Speaker 1: on Facebook and losing him I also discovered how strong

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Speaker 1: I really am. I'm not saying it's been easy finding

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Speaker 1: out how to just be me and be alone. It's

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Speaker 1: been hard, and I'm not perfect, but I think I'm

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Speaker 1: doing pretty damn good. I hope that I can inspires

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Speaker 1: to do the same. I wasn't going to lose myself

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Speaker 1: as well as him. I'll mention here that before producing

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Speaker 1: this podcast episode, I reached out to Connor's family and

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Speaker 1: let them know i'd be retelling his story as I

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Speaker 1: always have. I offered them an opportunity to speak about Connor.

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Speaker 1: His mum appreciated being told about the podcast, but no

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Speaker 1: one in the family wanted to speak publicly. Murder trials

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00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,320
Speaker 1: are almost nothing like you see on television. They progress

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00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,000
Speaker 1: at a much slower pace and they're much less dramatic.

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Speaker 1: The trial begins with jury selection. Names of summons men

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Speaker 1: and women pulled at random until twelve people are impaneled.

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Speaker 1: Once they selected, they retire to a special room and

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Speaker 1: they have the final chance to advise the court if

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Speaker 1: there are any issues that will prevent them from carrying

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Speaker 1: out their duty. Only when the jury is finalized does

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Speaker 1: the trial proper begin. The presiding judge addresses the jury

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00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,600
Speaker 1: briefly explaining his or her role, the role of jurors,

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00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:23,840
Speaker 1: and what they can expect from the crown and defense.

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Speaker 1: The crown then opens its case, usually with their narrative

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Speaker 1: of the alleged crime and an outline of witnesses they'll

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Speaker 1: call and evidence they'll present. They will also tell the

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Speaker 1: jury why they are sure the person on trial is guilty.

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Speaker 1: The defense then have an opportunity to make an opening statement,

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Speaker 1: which is usually along the lines of reminding jurors there

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Speaker 1: are two sides to a story, that they accused is

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Speaker 1: innocent until proven guilty, and that they must keep an

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Speaker 1: open mind. Then the Crown begin to call witnesses. On

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Speaker 1: day one of Michael Thrift Murray's trial, the mood in

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Speaker 1: the courtroom was tense. The public gallery was packed Connor's

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Speaker 1: parents and sister, other family and friends, and members of

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Speaker 1: the public. Anyone can go and sit in a trial,

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00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,240
Speaker 1: and often random people do show up for high profile cases.

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Speaker 1: Security at the High Court was beefed up given Connor's

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Speaker 1: gang connections, and entry screening was mandatory at the time.

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Speaker 1: Outside this trial that really took place, a jury of

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Speaker 1: eight men and four women were selected. When everyone was ready,

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00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:32,399
Speaker 1: Justice Edwin Wiley began proceedings. He urged the jurors to

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Speaker 1: put aside any sympathy or prejudice they may have, including

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Speaker 1: any feelings they had about gangs. He noted there have

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00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,600
Speaker 1: been extensive media coverage of Connor's death, but directed the

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Speaker 1: jury to put that entirely out of their minds. He said,

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Speaker 1: avoid watching, listening, and reading any media coverage. Any such

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00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:55,080
Speaker 1: coverage will be selective and not cover everything. Mister Murray

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Speaker 1: is entitled to a fair trial based solely on what

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Speaker 1: you hear in this courtroom. Crown Prosecutor David Johnston stood

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Speaker 1: to open the case against Murray. The courtroom was silent

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Speaker 1: as he began to speak about Connor's last moments. He said,

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Speaker 1: on this day, one year ago, in a situation where

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Speaker 1: there was a street fight about to start, or perhaps

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00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,440
Speaker 1: just starting, that man in the dock went and got

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00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:26,960
Speaker 1: from his property a weapon. He then, quite unexpectedly produced

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Speaker 1: the weapon. Murray allegedly used a large sickle with a

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00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,440
Speaker 1: wooden handle. Connor's family gasped loudly, and his mother buried

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00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:38,040
Speaker 1: her face in her hands, sobbing. His father looked stunned.

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00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,600
Speaker 1: Johnston carried on. Mister Murray swung the weapon with some

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Speaker 1: force at the head of another man, Connor Morris, point first.

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Speaker 1: The point and blade of the sickle entered the side

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Speaker 1: of mister Morris's head, just behind his left ear. The

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Speaker 1: damage was so severe and immediate that mister Morris seems

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Speaker 1: to have died almost instantly, perhaps before he hit the ground.

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Speaker 2: The Crown this was murder. Johnston explained to.

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Speaker 1: The jury that the force applied to the weapon was

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Speaker 1: such that it fractured Connor's skull and pushed his brainstep

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Speaker 1: to the right side of his head. The sickle went

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00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:18,800
Speaker 1: five centimeters into his skull. Johnston said forensic evidence proved

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Speaker 1: that Murray was the one to swing the sickle at Connor.

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Speaker 1: That DNA found on the handle was five million times

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Speaker 1: more likely to be his than another person's. Johnston ran

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00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 1: through the timeline of the night the two parties and

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00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 1: how the groups of men chanced upon each other on

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Speaker 1: Donbuck Road. He assured the jury that the Crown would

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00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 1: prove that Murray had murderous intent. He said, it's quite

403
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,879
Speaker 1: clear he felt the need to bash someone. Whatever degree

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00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,240
Speaker 1: of threat that Michael Murray thought he and his friends

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00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,560
Speaker 1: were facing, he was not acting to defend himself or

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00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,159
Speaker 1: any of his friends when he came straight in with

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Speaker 1: a sickle and fell the man who was involved.

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Speaker 2: At best in a fist fight.

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00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: Johnston said, for Murray to go in with such a

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00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,200
Speaker 1: weapon and use the force he did against a man

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00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,320
Speaker 1: who was not armed was not reasonable and he could

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00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,919
Speaker 1: not claim self defense. The Crown case put simply as

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00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 1: Michael Murray was just not defending himself or anyone else.

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00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,800
Speaker 1: The prosecutor also acknowledged the gang connection to the trial

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00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,440
Speaker 1: and that there were members of the Headhunters on the

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Speaker 1: scene that night. He said, the Headhunters that were there

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Speaker 1: were real people with human frailties alongside human qualities, just

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Speaker 1: like us. Echoing Justice Wiley, Johnston urged jurors to put

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Speaker 1: aside their personal feelings about the Headhunters and their lifestyle

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00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 1: and look at the evidence calmly and dispassionately. He said,

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00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,440
Speaker 1: if the jury thought the gang connection had bearing on

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00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,119
Speaker 1: Murray's thought process on the night of the murder, they

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00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:53,480
Speaker 1: should consider it. If not, they should disregard it completely.

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Speaker 1: Murray's lawyer, Marie Diiberg told the jury a very different

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Speaker 1: story of the knight Connor died. He said, do not

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00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,359
Speaker 1: make the mistake of thinking that because Michael Murray is

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00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: sitting here, that he is there for doing something wrong.

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00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,520
Speaker 1: The reason he's there is because on August three last year,

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00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 1: he struck Connor Morris with this garden tool that we

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00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,520
Speaker 1: have seen the sickle, and so caused Connor Morris's death.

431
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,400
Speaker 1: He accepts it was him, and he did so when

432
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,280
Speaker 1: one of those on the road was being badly assaulted. However,

433
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,560
Speaker 1: whether he's culpable by law is a matter for you,

434
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,399
Speaker 1: as the jury. Die Berg claimed the street fight was raging,

435
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 1: not just starting. When Murray retreated to get the weapon,

436
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: he came back to find Connor beating his younger brother.

437
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,400
Speaker 1: He began to wave the sickle around merely to try

438
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,200
Speaker 1: and scare Connor off. He was worried for his brother

439
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:45,479
Speaker 1: and trying to protect him.

440
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:46,880
Speaker 2: Die Berg said.

441
00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,320
Speaker 1: Michael Murray had made it clear at the beginning of

442
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 1: this incident that he did not want any trouble, and

443
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 1: when he saw Connor Morris assaulting his brother, he still

444
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,920
Speaker 1: tried to placate and soothe the situation. He said to

445
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,880
Speaker 1: mister Morris that act's my brother, please don't hurt him.

446
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 1: But Connor Morris was not listening. He kept going, so

447
00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,720
Speaker 1: Michael Murray acted. He swung the sickle with no real

448
00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,680
Speaker 1: thought of what he was doing at the time. He

449
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,080
Speaker 1: was just wanting to do something to stop what he

450
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,399
Speaker 1: saw as a bad attack on his little brother. The

451
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 1: sickle struck Connor Morris once that was enough to stop

452
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 1: the assault. As soon as Connor Morris dropped. That was it,

453
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 1: She said, Murray didn't mean to kill Connor. Michael Murray

454
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,200
Speaker 1: did no more. He achieved the one thing that he wanted.

455
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 1: He'd stopped the attack on his brother. Nothing more. This

456
00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,880
Speaker 1: is a case of the big brother defending the little brother.

457
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:45,119
Speaker 1: It is a case of defense of another. The defense

458
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,480
Speaker 1: opening was brief, ending with Dieberg appealing to the twelve

459
00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:52,080
Speaker 1: jurors to consider all of the evidence before making a decision,

460
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:54,160
Speaker 1: and then the Crown began.

461
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:55,320
Speaker 2: To call witnesses.

462
00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,880
Speaker 1: Ayesha Teho, who organized the twenty first her brother Trevan Murranger,

463
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,920
Speaker 1: who admitted starting the fight, their cousin Shamus Witter, who

464
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,359
Speaker 1: was with Moranger, Connor's mate Obi, who was kicked in

465
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,440
Speaker 1: the face, a security guard who was patrolling the area

466
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,600
Speaker 1: when the fight kicked off and pulled over to call

467
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:16,960
Speaker 1: one one one, the paramedic who tended to Connor at

468
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,320
Speaker 1: the scene and in the back of the ambulance, and Millie.

469
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 1: She took the stand on the fourth day of the trail,

470
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,640
Speaker 1: speaking publicly for the first time about the night Connor died.

471
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,359
Speaker 1: Here is part of what Melli told the court. This

472
00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,760
Speaker 1: is part of her actual evidence, which Justice, Wiley allowed

473
00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:35,879
Speaker 1: the media to record.

474
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:38,680
Speaker 3: It was crazy, like there was like a fight going

475
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,840
Speaker 3: on to my right. Fight in the middle, there was

476
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,760
Speaker 3: like a dog running around biting people. There was a

477
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,760
Speaker 3: scuffle to my left. The fight in front of me

478
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:50,679
Speaker 3: was quite close to me, so it was quite distracting.

479
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 3: I literally got out onto the road noticed that there

480
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:54,720
Speaker 3: were people fighting in front of me, so I stopped

481
00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 3: moving forward. And then I saw Connor drop to my left.

482
00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:59,800
Speaker 3: Like that's how fast it happened. I just remember seeing

483
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:02,280
Speaker 3: him drop out of the corner of my eye, and

484
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,120
Speaker 3: like the way that he fell, like I knew something

485
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 3: was really wrong. He didn't put his hands out or

486
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,680
Speaker 3: anything like, he fell back like he was unconscious, and

487
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 3: he hit his head like quite hard on the ground,

488
00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:17,720
Speaker 3: like when he fell.

489
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: Lillie became distressed as she recalled the night her partner died.

490
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,440
Speaker 1: Connor's mum and dad were also visibly upset hearing what

491
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 1: she told the jury. After taking a moment to collect herself,

492
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,520
Speaker 1: she carried on and said, when I saw Connor drop,

493
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 1: nothing else mattered.

494
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:35,120
Speaker 2: I just ran to him.

495
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,240
Speaker 1: He was my only concern. I wasn't looking around to

496
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 1: see who hit him or what anyone else was doing

497
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,800
Speaker 1: the way he fell. I was so worried, I screamed.

498
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:45,640
Speaker 1: I ran to him and jumped on top of him.

499
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:47,800
Speaker 1: I had my knees on either side of his hips

500
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,400
Speaker 1: and I put my hand under his head. I felt

501
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:52,600
Speaker 1: the blood rushing out of his head. I was trying

502
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:54,800
Speaker 1: to put my hands to stop the bleeding, but it

503
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 1: was so strong it was pushing against my hands. I

504
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:01,960
Speaker 1: could feel his pulse throbbing, screaming. I was fucking hysterical.

505
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 1: The next day, the Crown played a video recording of

506
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:09,600
Speaker 1: Murray's first police interview to the jury. Detective Simon Woodhams

507
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:12,479
Speaker 1: told him, the reason that you're here is we need

508
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 1: to speak to you about your role and the death

509
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:18,280
Speaker 1: of Connor Morris. Because of Connor Morris's death, a homicide

510
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:19,480
Speaker 1: investigation was started.

511
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,040
Speaker 2: Just so you know you are a suspect.

512
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 1: Murray is polite and speaks clearly to Woodham's He said

513
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:28,760
Speaker 1: police were looking in the wrong place, that he had

514
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 1: nothing to do with Connor's death. Murray said on the

515
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,200
Speaker 1: day of the murder, he went to Rainbow's End theme

516
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,479
Speaker 1: park in South Auckland with his partner and children. They

517
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 1: left at about five pm and headed home, stopping at

518
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: McDonald's to pick up dinner. They went to the sleepout

519
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,520
Speaker 1: at four oh one don Buck Road, where Murray lived

520
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 1: part time. He stayed there when he had his children visiting,

521
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:52,320
Speaker 1: and lived at his partner's home the rest of the time.

522
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:55,840
Speaker 1: He told police that as he arrived home, he saw

523
00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,640
Speaker 1: his brother Stan and Zane Williams, who lived in the

524
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,840
Speaker 1: main house Tara's day had been, and he chatted to

525
00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:04,840
Speaker 1: them briefly. Other than the two men, he claimed he

526
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,760
Speaker 1: didn't see or speak to anyone else that night. He

527
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,440
Speaker 1: said his family ate dinner in the sleepout, played a

528
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,240
Speaker 1: video game, and then he went to sleep. About eight o'clock,

529
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,320
Speaker 1: he was drained after a long day at the amusement park.

530
00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,520
Speaker 1: At midnight, he was woken by smashing glass. He said,

531
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 1: I peered out the window and saw a car getting smashed.

532
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:25,760
Speaker 1: My partner had gone out there and someone said to

533
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 1: her everyone in this house was going to die.

534
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:29,600
Speaker 2: Murray said.

535
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,040
Speaker 1: He then barricaded himself and his family in the sleepout

536
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,320
Speaker 1: and his partner called one one one Police came and

537
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,600
Speaker 1: spoke with them later, and then they were picked up

538
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:41,680
Speaker 1: by Murray's uncle and left the area. Williams listened to

539
00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,360
Speaker 1: Murray's story and then told him what other witnesses had

540
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 1: already said. One had said in a police interview, Mike

541
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:51,440
Speaker 1: got a stick and hit a Mail around the head

542
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,000
Speaker 1: with it. Mail was knocked out and went to ground.

543
00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:58,200
Speaker 1: Mike then ran Mail never gets up again. Connor Morris

544
00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 1: he didn't get up because he was dead. Woodhams urged

545
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,920
Speaker 1: Murray to tell the truth. He said, you've given us

546
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:07,360
Speaker 1: your version of events, and we've listened to you and

547
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,960
Speaker 1: recorded it. But unfortunately what you say is different to

548
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,080
Speaker 1: the evidence we've got in a big way. What you've

549
00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:17,480
Speaker 1: told us doesn't make sense. This is the opportunity for

550
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 1: you to give us what happened. Did you kill Connor Morris?

551
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 1: Murray replied, no, I didn't kill Connor Morris. These people

552
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 1: are lying. I never went out and did anything.

553
00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:30,120
Speaker 2: I was with my kids.

554
00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:34,400
Speaker 1: Murray then asked to speak to his lawyer. Over the

555
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:37,520
Speaker 1: next few days, the jury heard from more witnesses, including

556
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:41,480
Speaker 1: police who worked on Operation Venice and pathologist doctor Simon Stables,

557
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,680
Speaker 1: who spoke in detail about Connor's death. Stables first saw

558
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,480
Speaker 1: Connor in the mortuary at Auckland City Hospital, who was

559
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,080
Speaker 1: fully clothed with his hands, feet and head covered with

560
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:55,760
Speaker 1: bags to preserve evidence. Everything was photographed, each item of

561
00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:59,840
Speaker 1: clothing and Connor's body. The autopsy consisted of an externally

562
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,959
Speaker 1: examination and then an internal examination, during which specimens were

563
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,320
Speaker 1: taken for toxicology. Stable said Connor had a number of

564
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,720
Speaker 1: external injuries, including bruising to his arms consistent with falling,

565
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:13,600
Speaker 1: a graze and cut to his lip which could have

566
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,760
Speaker 1: been the result of resuscitation efforts, and the fatal injury

567
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 1: on his head. Connor's mum and sister were in court

568
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,440
Speaker 1: to hear the forensic evidence, but his dad left while

569
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:26,120
Speaker 1: details of the autopsy were discussed. The jury was shown

570
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,320
Speaker 1: photos of what Stables was discussing in court, including the

571
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,640
Speaker 1: stab wound to Connor's head, which he described as unusual

572
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:35,320
Speaker 1: because it had features of being a blunt wound and

573
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:39,000
Speaker 1: a sharp wound. Stable said the injury was extremely severe

574
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:41,720
Speaker 1: and confirmed the weapon the prosecutor had shown the court

575
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,200
Speaker 1: on the first day of the trial was capable of

576
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,720
Speaker 1: inflicting the fatal wound. Stables was the last of the

577
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:52,000
Speaker 1: forty six crime witnesses. When he finished giving evidence, prosecutor

578
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:56,680
Speaker 1: David Johnston handed the floor to Murray's lawyer. Dieberg then

579
00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:00,600
Speaker 1: began to give a full outline of his defense. Michael

580
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:03,720
Speaker 1: Thrift Murray, she said, would give anything to turn back

581
00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 1: the clock to August three, twenty fourteen, but that could

582
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:09,080
Speaker 1: not be done and he had to face what he

583
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:12,959
Speaker 1: had done. Dieberg reminded the jury that Murray admitted hid

584
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 1: in Connor and causing his death, but that he denied

585
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:17,600
Speaker 1: the charge of murder.

586
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:18,920
Speaker 2: She said.

587
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:22,200
Speaker 1: The defense case is that Michael Murray acted as he

588
00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:25,040
Speaker 1: did in defense of his younger brother. You will hear

589
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 1: that Michael Murray is very close to his brother Stanley,

590
00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:30,400
Speaker 1: and even though they are twelve years apart, Michael Murray

591
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,720
Speaker 1: will tell you he took on an almost fatherly roll,

592
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 1: a protector role of his younger brother. That is a

593
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:40,000
Speaker 1: solid bond. There was no murderous intent. Mister Murray believed

594
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,320
Speaker 1: that Connor Morris was seriously assaulting his little brother and

595
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:45,160
Speaker 1: that the only thing he could do to stop this

596
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,600
Speaker 1: potentially serious assault was to lash out with a sickle.

597
00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,800
Speaker 1: The defense case for mister Murray is that he neither

598
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:56,280
Speaker 1: intended to kill or cause any bodily injury that he

599
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,480
Speaker 1: knew was likely to cause death. He didn't contemplate for

600
00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:02,160
Speaker 1: one moment moment that death was something that could eventuate.

601
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:05,840
Speaker 1: When he swung the sickle, he reacted instinctively in the

602
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,680
Speaker 1: heat of the moment. Dieberg told the court Murray did

603
00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:11,839
Speaker 1: the only thing he could think of when he saw,

604
00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:15,880
Speaker 1: in her words, waves of big men, including head Hunter's

605
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:19,920
Speaker 1: gang members, who were clearly intent on physical retribution of

606
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:24,000
Speaker 1: a serious kind. She said, Michael Murray saw his cousin

607
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:26,480
Speaker 1: get knocked down by a group of these rampaging men.

608
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:30,960
Speaker 1: Michael Murray and his group were seriously outnumbered. He grabbed

609
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,920
Speaker 1: that rusty old sickle. This is something that looks in

610
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,479
Speaker 1: his panic mind that it might make the group stop

611
00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:40,520
Speaker 1: their fighting. It was a bad decision in hindsight. When

612
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 1: he returned from picking up the sickle, he saw a

613
00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,000
Speaker 1: man who later turned out to be Connor Morris beating

614
00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 1: up Stanley. The one thought that went through his mind

615
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,080
Speaker 1: was he's going to seriously hurt him. He might have

616
00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:55,080
Speaker 1: been Callum. Stanley can't protect himself. I have to stop

617
00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,879
Speaker 1: this attack on him, plain and simple. He reacts instinctively.

618
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:02,319
Speaker 1: He swings the sickle. Michael Murray reacted in the heat

619
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,160
Speaker 1: of the moment to what he perceived as a clear

620
00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:07,640
Speaker 1: and present danger to his brother, and that was it.

621
00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:11,719
Speaker 1: Dieberg spoke to the jury about reasonable force, explaining the

622
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:12,719
Speaker 1: concept and the law.

623
00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 2: New Zealand's Crimes.

624
00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:17,680
Speaker 1: Act states that everyone is justified in using in the

625
00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,239
Speaker 1: defense of himself or another such force as in the

626
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,759
Speaker 1: circumstances as he believes them to be, is reasonable to use.

627
00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,840
Speaker 1: This means you're allowed to defend yourself from attack, but

628
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,600
Speaker 1: use your common sense. Wrapping up her opening address, Dieberg

629
00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 1: acknowledged it was only natural that jurors would feel sympathy

630
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,960
Speaker 1: towards Connor and his family, or even towards the accused,

631
00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: but they had to base their decision on the evidence alone.

632
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:46,000
Speaker 1: She said, this is not a case of who do

633
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,440
Speaker 1: you believe. It's not a case for mister Murray to

634
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:52,680
Speaker 1: prove his innocence. You must act judicially. Any sympathy or

635
00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:56,120
Speaker 1: prejudice you feel creeping in you must be staunch, you

636
00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,480
Speaker 1: must be strong and put it aside. She then called

637
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:04,560
Speaker 1: the first defense witness, Michael Thrift Murray. Before hearing his

638
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,760
Speaker 1: version of events, the jury heard more about the accused

639
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:11,000
Speaker 1: murderer as a person. While of four children, he grew

640
00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:14,520
Speaker 1: up in West Auckland and attended Wellsford College. After school,

641
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:18,520
Speaker 1: Murray worked as a laborer but studied automotive engineering, study

642
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:22,680
Speaker 1: he completed alongside his younger brother Stanley. Stanley's twelve years

643
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:25,600
Speaker 1: younger than Murray, and the pair were very close. The

644
00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,400
Speaker 1: court heard Murray helped their mother when Stanley was a baby,

645
00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 1: changing nappies and caring for him. Later, he would take

646
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,720
Speaker 1: him to rugby league and church. In August twenty thirteen,

647
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,920
Speaker 1: Murray's mother died from cancer. She had been sick for

648
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:42,840
Speaker 1: several years, but her diagnosis became terminal about six months

649
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:46,640
Speaker 1: before she died. During that time, Murray and Stanley took

650
00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,480
Speaker 1: on the role of caregivers. They lived with their mother

651
00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,720
Speaker 1: until she died, and afterwards, when Housing New Zealand evicted

652
00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,680
Speaker 1: the boys, they moved to four oh one don Buck Road.

653
00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,239
Speaker 1: They lived in separate rooms of a sleep out at

654
00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:01,440
Speaker 1: the back of the main house. Murray has three children

655
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:03,840
Speaker 1: of his own, two daughters and a son, who were

656
00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:05,719
Speaker 1: with him for the week end and staying in the

657
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:07,640
Speaker 1: sleep out the night Connor was killed.

658
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:09,319
Speaker 2: Murray told the jury.

659
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:11,520
Speaker 1: When the twenty first down the driveway was shut down,

660
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,920
Speaker 1: he joined Murranga Wudra and Tahoe for a beer on

661
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,520
Speaker 1: the deck of the main house at his place. They

662
00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,720
Speaker 1: also smoked some cannabis. The boos ran out, and Murray

663
00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:22,960
Speaker 1: decided he wanted to go to bed. He told his

664
00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:24,880
Speaker 1: mates they should leave, and he walked them to the

665
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,960
Speaker 1: top of the driveway. He was there when Murranga kicked

666
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,960
Speaker 1: out at Obi. Murray claimed that immediately after, one of

667
00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:34,719
Speaker 1: Obi's mates started running down the street yelling that he

668
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:38,360
Speaker 1: was going to get head hunters. Soon after the fight began,

669
00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:41,560
Speaker 1: Murray told the court he could see Wedder getting bashed.

670
00:37:42,239 --> 00:37:45,640
Speaker 1: He said, I thought he's fucked. I turned around and

671
00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,239
Speaker 1: ran back to my property and retrieved the sickle. I

672
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:50,719
Speaker 1: thought if I got something, maybe it would scare them

673
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,960
Speaker 1: and stop them from attacking us. Murray claimed he only

674
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,320
Speaker 1: wanted to show the other men the tool, in his words,

675
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 1: brandish it and maybe scare them off stop them from attacking.

676
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:02,360
Speaker 1: Murray claims he then saw a bigger man pick his

677
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,359
Speaker 1: brother up, swing him like a rag doll, and give

678
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,840
Speaker 1: him several uppercuts. He told the court, I yelled at

679
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:11,480
Speaker 1: the man to stop. That's my little brother. He just

680
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,480
Speaker 1: looked like he was going to continue to smash him.

681
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:17,000
Speaker 1: I'd already seen Seamus get smashed. I was quite fearful

682
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,480
Speaker 1: for Stanley's life. I didn't want Stanley to get seriously

683
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:22,320
Speaker 1: injured or killed. I've stepped forward to the vicinity of

684
00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:26,000
Speaker 1: where the man was, closed my eyes and swung the sickle.

685
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,440
Speaker 1: I wasn't thinking at that time. Everything was just happening

686
00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,760
Speaker 1: so fast. Murray said he didn't know where the circle

687
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 1: had hit.

688
00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,600
Speaker 2: The other man. He saw him fall to the ground.

689
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:39,840
Speaker 2: He grabbed his brother and ran. He threw the sickle

690
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:40,640
Speaker 2: in a bush.

691
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:42,880
Speaker 1: And then went to his room. He could hear a

692
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:46,399
Speaker 1: woman screaming. He said he could hear men say if

693
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:48,200
Speaker 1: he dies, everyone in that.

694
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:49,080
Speaker 2: House will die.

695
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:52,400
Speaker 1: He said he thought the men were headhunters, and he

696
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:55,320
Speaker 1: was scared for his safety and for his children and partner.

697
00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:57,200
Speaker 2: In court, Murray told the.

698
00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,600
Speaker 1: Jury why he had lied to police, why he had

699
00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:01,520
Speaker 1: told them that he was not on the street during

700
00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:01,919
Speaker 1: the fight.

701
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:04,479
Speaker 2: He said that was not true.

702
00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:07,319
Speaker 1: Prior to me going to the police station, I've been

703
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:10,160
Speaker 1: watching the news and I was aware that the retribution

704
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:13,480
Speaker 1: seeked from the headhunters, that they would seek revenge. I

705
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:41,279
Speaker 1: was scared. I feared for my life. Stanley Murray was

706
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:44,400
Speaker 1: called to give evidence. Next as he began to speak,

707
00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,800
Speaker 1: his older brother began to cry in the dock. Stanley

708
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:49,719
Speaker 1: told the jury that he was being beaten up by

709
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,720
Speaker 1: a man when he heard his older brother yelling. He said,

710
00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:55,439
Speaker 1: he was saying, get off my brother, Get off my brother.

711
00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:57,680
Speaker 1: He had a sickle in his hand. He held it

712
00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:00,400
Speaker 1: with two hands. He didn't see what happened next, but

713
00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:04,240
Speaker 1: the alleged assault stopped. I got up and ran with Michael,

714
00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:04,879
Speaker 1: he said.

715
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:06,160
Speaker 2: Stanley.

716
00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:09,520
Speaker 1: Murray explained that after the incident, he too lied to police.

717
00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 1: He told the jury why this was. He said, I

718
00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:15,920
Speaker 1: didn't want anything to happen to me from the victim's family.

719
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:17,479
Speaker 2: I feared for my life.

720
00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 1: On August thirteen, the Crown delivered its final closing address

721
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,400
Speaker 1: to the jury. It took Crown Prosecutor David Johnston just

722
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:29,560
Speaker 1: one hour to summarize his case. He said, members of

723
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:31,880
Speaker 1: the jury, it's trite, but I'm going to say it.

724
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:34,960
Speaker 1: You've heard the expression about not taking a knife to

725
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,400
Speaker 1: a fist fight. Even if you believe Michael Murray, he

726
00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:40,719
Speaker 1: still left what he saw was a fist fight to

727
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:44,200
Speaker 1: go and get not just a knife, but a deadly item,

728
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:47,799
Speaker 1: and allowing for that possibility, he thought a large man

729
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:50,719
Speaker 1: with his bare hands was assaulting his brother. Not only

730
00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:53,200
Speaker 1: did mister Murray us a sickle against that man, he

731
00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:55,440
Speaker 1: directed the blow so the point of the sickle entered

732
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:58,520
Speaker 1: the man's head with enough force to break the skull.

733
00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:02,920
Speaker 1: By taking in this action, Michael Murray was not defending anyone.

734
00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:05,960
Speaker 1: He had gone beyond the realm of what could properly

735
00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:10,200
Speaker 1: be described as defense. He was attacking. He used a

736
00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:13,560
Speaker 1: degree of plainly lethal force. It was beyond the realm

737
00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:17,160
Speaker 1: of what would be reasonable. In taking that action. Michael

738
00:41:17,239 --> 00:41:20,320
Speaker 1: Murray must have either intended to kill mister Morris, or

739
00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:22,719
Speaker 1: he must have intended to hurt him in a way

740
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:27,000
Speaker 1: that he knew could quite possibly cause death. I'm going

741
00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:30,160
Speaker 1: to invite you to find Michael Murray guilty as charged.

742
00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:32,239
Speaker 2: Johnson said.

743
00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:34,760
Speaker 1: There was no question Murray went into the night looking

744
00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 1: for an opportunity to undertake some kind of violence. He continued,

745
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:43,960
Speaker 1: we wish these events hadn't happened, but matters like the

746
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,160
Speaker 1: ones we are dealing with develop quickly. The way our

747
00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:50,080
Speaker 1: society and in particular, our justice system, can respond to

748
00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:52,240
Speaker 1: the sort of situation we're dealing with in this case

749
00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:55,040
Speaker 1: is to invite people like you to consider these events

750
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,560
Speaker 1: and make a judgment. It wouldn't be right for you

751
00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:00,120
Speaker 1: simply to look at the mallet on the street, the

752
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:03,600
Speaker 1: inappropriate and excessive behavior shown by a number of people

753
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:06,879
Speaker 1: and simply throw your hands up. It is your heavy

754
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:10,800
Speaker 1: responsibility to make a judgment about the moments when Michael

755
00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:14,759
Speaker 1: Murray chose to swing the sickle. Everyone agrees that mister

756
00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:17,400
Speaker 1: Murray killed Connor Morris, and it will soon be up

757
00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:19,960
Speaker 1: to you to decide whether he may have been acting

758
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:23,160
Speaker 1: unreasonably and whether he intended to hurt mister Morris in

759
00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:26,160
Speaker 1: a way that was likely to cause death. You can't

760
00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:30,040
Speaker 1: particularly trust mister Murray's evidence. The question is what was

761
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:32,760
Speaker 1: in mister Murray's mind at the moment which he literally

762
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,960
Speaker 1: took matters into his own hands. The most important part

763
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:40,040
Speaker 1: of the evidence is what mister Murray actually did. Johnson

764
00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:43,680
Speaker 1: said Murray had numerous opportunities to take alternative action. He

765
00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:45,840
Speaker 1: could have run away with his brother. He could have

766
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:49,560
Speaker 1: taken Connor on with his own fists, but he chose

767
00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:53,800
Speaker 1: a weapon one he knew was capable of causing significant damage,

768
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:59,080
Speaker 1: and he swung it with force. In the defense closing address,

769
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:02,640
Speaker 1: Murray Died refuted evidence given by Headhunter's Game members and

770
00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:06,680
Speaker 1: associates during the trial, describing their testimony as nonsense and

771
00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:11,239
Speaker 1: carefully scripted to mislead the jury. She said, you can't

772
00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:13,360
Speaker 1: look at the point of impact and isolation in this

773
00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:16,400
Speaker 1: case because what has gone on before that point formed

774
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:19,520
Speaker 1: the fear and assessment made in Michael Murray's mind. At

775
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:22,879
Speaker 1: the point of impact. You cannot ignore that and be fair.

776
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,640
Speaker 1: The defense says, Michael Murray is not guilty of murder.

777
00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:30,480
Speaker 1: Michael Murray described what was happening when he made that

778
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:33,799
Speaker 1: split second decision to go and get the sickle. When

779
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:36,040
Speaker 1: he returned with the sickle, he saw to his left

780
00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:39,279
Speaker 1: his brother Stanley stepped forward and say he didn't want

781
00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:43,160
Speaker 1: any trouble. What happened next in a matter of seconds

782
00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:46,879
Speaker 1: and a panic, Mister Murray said, stop, that's my brother.

783
00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:50,760
Speaker 1: But as plea was ignored, it looked to mister Murray

784
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,440
Speaker 1: that the man was going to continue to smash Stanley,

785
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:58,800
Speaker 1: and the law allows preventive action. Unfortunately, that one strike

786
00:43:59,120 --> 00:44:03,359
Speaker 1: proved fatal and so we have a homicide. So where

787
00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:07,279
Speaker 1: to from here? The charge did he cause the death

788
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:11,120
Speaker 1: of Connor Marris, Yes, he did, but as he culpable,

789
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:15,360
Speaker 1: that is, is he guilty in law if self defense

790
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:18,880
Speaker 1: is not considered an unlawful action when he struck Connormorris.

791
00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:22,640
Speaker 1: In these circumstances, he's not guilty. Was he acting in

792
00:44:22,719 --> 00:44:23,600
Speaker 1: defense of Stanley?

793
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:24,960
Speaker 2: Yes he was.

794
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:28,560
Speaker 1: He didn't swing that sickle for no reason. Was the

795
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:33,040
Speaker 1: force reasonable? The defense says yes, the law allows in

796
00:44:33,239 --> 00:44:37,880
Speaker 1: these circumstances people to intervene. The last part of the trial,

797
00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:40,920
Speaker 1: before the jury was sent to deliberate, failed to justice

798
00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:44,160
Speaker 1: Edwin Wiley. He summed up the cases for the Crown

799
00:44:44,239 --> 00:44:47,800
Speaker 1: and defense, spoke about reasonable force and told the jury

800
00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:51,040
Speaker 1: they had to decide whether Murray had murderous intent when

801
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:54,920
Speaker 1: he swung the sickle or not. The judge explained that

802
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,600
Speaker 1: murderous intent did not need premeditation. It could be instant

803
00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:02,560
Speaker 1: and immediately. He regretted if the jury could not find

804
00:45:02,640 --> 00:45:06,080
Speaker 1: Murray guilty of murdering Connormorris, it could find him guilty

805
00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:10,400
Speaker 1: of an alternative charge of manslaughter, or if they determined

806
00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:12,560
Speaker 1: he had acted in self defense and had done so

807
00:45:12,760 --> 00:45:16,440
Speaker 1: within the law, he was not criminally culpable, and they

808
00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:20,759
Speaker 1: could acquit him entirely. Justice Wiley reminded the jury that

809
00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,600
Speaker 1: the onus of proof lay with the Crown. It was

810
00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:26,239
Speaker 1: for the Crown to prove Murray's guilt, It was not

811
00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:30,840
Speaker 1: for Murray to prove his innocence. He said, your starting

812
00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:33,840
Speaker 1: point is the presumption of innocence. You must treat Michael

813
00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:36,520
Speaker 1: Murray as innocent of the charge until you were satisfied

814
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:39,480
Speaker 1: that the Crown has proven him to be guilty. The

815
00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:43,080
Speaker 1: Crown must prove each element of the charge beyond reasonable doubt.

816
00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:45,960
Speaker 1: That is a very high standard of proof which the

817
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:48,279
Speaker 1: Crown will have to meet. It is not enough that

818
00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:53,200
Speaker 1: Michael Murray is probably guilty or likely guilty. Justice Wiley

819
00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:56,080
Speaker 1: advised the jury on the criteria of a reasonable doubt.

820
00:45:56,960 --> 00:45:59,480
Speaker 1: A doubt could not be vague or fanciful, or a

821
00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:02,000
Speaker 1: case of the jury finding it too hard and unpleasant

822
00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:06,840
Speaker 1: to convict Murray of murder. The judge told them reasonable

823
00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:09,319
Speaker 1: doubt is an honest and reasonable question left in your

824
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:12,279
Speaker 1: minds about the guilt of a defendant after you have

825
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:16,279
Speaker 1: given careful and impartial consideration of the evidence. If you're

826
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:18,840
Speaker 1: not sure that he's guilty, you must find them not guilty.

827
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:22,960
Speaker 1: You must not speculate or guess. It must be a

828
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:27,400
Speaker 1: reasoned and logical conclusion. You must be sure on the evidence.

829
00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:30,600
Speaker 1: You do not have to accept everything a witness said.

830
00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:33,040
Speaker 1: You may think part of what somebody said is credible

831
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:35,800
Speaker 1: and reliable. You may have doubts about some other parts.

832
00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:39,680
Speaker 1: Justice Wiley directed the jury to ignore what was said

833
00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:43,800
Speaker 1: about Murray's character. He told them, rather, you must assess

834
00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:48,080
Speaker 1: whether the evidence proves his guilt. Frequently, feelings of sympathy

835
00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:51,040
Speaker 1: or prejudice can be aroused in criminal trials. You must

836
00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:54,920
Speaker 1: ignore these feelings. This is particularly important in this case,

837
00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:58,239
Speaker 1: with gang overtones in the background. You may feel some

838
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:03,080
Speaker 1: sympathy towards mister Morris or mister Murray. All such emotions, feelings,

839
00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:07,759
Speaker 1: or views must play no part in your deliberations. Justice

840
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:12,239
Speaker 1: Wiley said the deliberations must be fair, calm, and dispassionate.

841
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:16,320
Speaker 1: He then sent the jury up to begin making their decision.

842
00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:23,759
Speaker 1: Four hours after the jury retired, there was a knock

843
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:27,720
Speaker 1: on the courtroom door. The knock indicated one of two things.

844
00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:31,080
Speaker 1: Either the jury had a question for the judge or

845
00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:34,160
Speaker 1: that had reached a verdict. Everyone made their way back

846
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:38,800
Speaker 1: into the courtroom lawyers, media, Connor's family and friends, Police

847
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:41,120
Speaker 1: and security lined up the middle of the public gallery,

848
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:45,680
Speaker 1: separating Connor's supporters and those there for Murray. The atmosphere

849
00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:48,400
Speaker 1: was more than tense. The whole room felt like it

850
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:54,200
Speaker 1: was pulsing with anticipation, nerves, hope, fear. Murray was led

851
00:47:54,239 --> 00:47:57,719
Speaker 1: into the dock, flanked by a team of guards. Justice

852
00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:00,319
Speaker 1: Wiley returned to the bench and instructure that the jury

853
00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:03,880
Speaker 1: be called back in. The four person confirmed a verdict

854
00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:09,160
Speaker 1: had been reached. It was unanimous. It was decided. The

855
00:48:09,239 --> 00:48:12,600
Speaker 1: registrar asked the four person on the charge of murder,

856
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:16,520
Speaker 1: do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty? The

857
00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:22,800
Speaker 1: four person replied guilty. Connor's mum, Julie, burst into tears

858
00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:26,560
Speaker 1: and turned to a daughter, hugging her tightly. His dad, Chris,

859
00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:29,319
Speaker 1: had attended every day of the trial, but left when

860
00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:32,480
Speaker 1: the jury retired to deliberate, preferring to hear the verdict

861
00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:35,400
Speaker 1: by phone. Millie was also given the news in a

862
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:38,920
Speaker 1: phone call. As the jury were dismissed, one of Connor's

863
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:42,640
Speaker 1: relatives called out, thank you from our family. He then

864
00:48:42,719 --> 00:48:45,799
Speaker 1: yelled across to the dock, Murray, your time is coming,

865
00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:50,320
Speaker 1: he was quickly shut down by security staff. Murray remained

866
00:48:50,360 --> 00:48:53,000
Speaker 1: silent through the short end to his trial. He stood

867
00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:56,080
Speaker 1: very still as the verdict was read. His eyes welled up,

868
00:48:56,360 --> 00:48:59,840
Speaker 1: but he did not cry. Just as Wiley reminded the

869
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:03,720
Speaker 1: convicted murderer and custody to await sentencing and the trial

870
00:49:03,880 --> 00:49:07,479
Speaker 1: was over. Outside court, none of Connor's family were ready

871
00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:10,239
Speaker 1: to speak about the verdict, but they did stop as

872
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:12,239
Speaker 1: they left to thank police who had worked on the case.

873
00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:16,319
Speaker 1: Later that afternoon, Connor's loved ones posted their thoughts about

874
00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:20,160
Speaker 1: the verdict on social media. Millie directed her words to

875
00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:21,080
Speaker 1: her Slam partner.

876
00:49:22,200 --> 00:49:24,120
Speaker 2: She wrote, we all knew it.

877
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:28,000
Speaker 1: Glad the justice system came through for you. Can't believe

878
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:31,480
Speaker 1: I'm happy about something so sad. Doesn't bring you back

879
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:34,560
Speaker 1: or change our reality now. Doesn't change how much we

880
00:49:34,600 --> 00:49:38,280
Speaker 1: will miss you, but you got justice and for everyone

881
00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:40,640
Speaker 1: who knew you, it means a little bit of closure.

882
00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:45,440
Speaker 1: Chris Morris wrote, thank you to everybody for the good wishes.

883
00:49:46,160 --> 00:50:17,400
Speaker 1: My son Connor can now rest in peace. On September eleven,

884
00:50:17,440 --> 00:50:20,560
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, Michael Thrift Murray was back in the dock

885
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:23,680
Speaker 1: in the High Court at Auckland for sentencing. Connor's mum

886
00:50:23,719 --> 00:50:25,920
Speaker 1: and sister took their seats in the back of the courtroom,

887
00:50:26,280 --> 00:50:29,560
Speaker 1: along with Milly's mother. Milly was overseas at the time

888
00:50:29,960 --> 00:50:33,200
Speaker 1: and Connor's dad chose not to attend the hearing. A

889
00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:36,440
Speaker 1: sentencing usually begins with the reading of victim impact statements.

890
00:50:37,080 --> 00:50:39,480
Speaker 1: The judge then hears submissions from the Crown and defense

891
00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:42,160
Speaker 1: about what they believe the sentence should be before a

892
00:50:42,200 --> 00:50:46,400
Speaker 1: decision is made. Before the hearing, parties provide a significant

893
00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:50,040
Speaker 1: amount of further information to the judge for consideration, including

894
00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:54,240
Speaker 1: reports about the offender, describing their personal life, previous offending

895
00:50:54,520 --> 00:50:58,239
Speaker 1: and psychological state. A judge doesn't just walk into a

896
00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:00,680
Speaker 1: courtroom on the day and decide what the sentence should be.

897
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:03,879
Speaker 1: Under New Zealand legislation, they have to come to their

898
00:51:03,920 --> 00:51:08,279
Speaker 1: decision using specific processes and calculations. They also take into

899
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:13,080
Speaker 1: account previous similar cases. Connor's family wrote victim impact statements

900
00:51:13,120 --> 00:51:15,840
Speaker 1: that were given to Justice Wiley, but they requested that

901
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:19,360
Speaker 1: their words were not read out loud in court. Prosecuted

902
00:51:19,440 --> 00:51:23,000
Speaker 1: David Johnston said the statements outlined a deep and inevitable,

903
00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:26,960
Speaker 1: ongoing personal impact as a consequence of the offending. He

904
00:51:27,040 --> 00:51:30,880
Speaker 1: then began as submissions describing Murray's actions towards Connor as

905
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:35,200
Speaker 1: drastically inappropriate. He said, when he went to go and

906
00:51:35,280 --> 00:51:38,040
Speaker 1: get his weapon, the proposition that it was simply to

907
00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:41,960
Speaker 1: have available for scaring people is fanciful. There must have

908
00:51:42,040 --> 00:51:45,360
Speaker 1: been some awareness. Johnston said a sentence of life in

909
00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:49,160
Speaker 1: prison was appropriate and would not be manifestly unjust. He

910
00:51:49,200 --> 00:51:52,320
Speaker 1: said aggravating features of the offending included the use of

911
00:51:52,360 --> 00:51:56,000
Speaker 1: a weapon, which and deliberately retrieving suggested there was an

912
00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:59,879
Speaker 1: element of premeditation in Murray's actions. He said Murray then

913
00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:04,320
Speaker 1: used more force than was reasonably necessary. Johnston submitted that

914
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:07,000
Speaker 1: a life sentence with a minimum non parole period of

915
00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:11,000
Speaker 1: ten years was appropriate for Murray's offending. As I've explained

916
00:52:11,040 --> 00:52:13,680
Speaker 1: in previous episodes of A Moment in Crime, a life

917
00:52:13,760 --> 00:52:17,840
Speaker 1: sentence does mean life. The minimum non parole period simply

918
00:52:17,880 --> 00:52:20,960
Speaker 1: sets a term and offender must spend behind bars before

919
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:24,480
Speaker 1: they can begin the parole process. Even when they're eligible

920
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:27,439
Speaker 1: for parole, they may never be released. They can only

921
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:30,160
Speaker 1: return to the community when they've satisfied the parole board

922
00:52:30,239 --> 00:52:33,040
Speaker 1: that they're no longer a risk that they're no longer dangerous,

923
00:52:33,760 --> 00:52:36,640
Speaker 1: and if that time comes, they're subject to a range

924
00:52:36,680 --> 00:52:38,919
Speaker 1: of conditions and monitoring for the rest of their life,

925
00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:42,000
Speaker 1: meaning if they break the rules or reoffend, they can

926
00:52:42,080 --> 00:52:47,240
Speaker 1: be recalled to prism. Murray's lawyer, still Mariy Dieberg, at sentencing,

927
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:51,480
Speaker 1: acknowledged the grief and lost Connor's family were experiencing, describing

928
00:52:51,560 --> 00:52:56,400
Speaker 1: it as profound. She said Murray was remorseful and maintained

929
00:52:56,440 --> 00:52:58,920
Speaker 1: that he never meant to kill or even hurt Connor.

930
00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:02,480
Speaker 1: Accept did his actions were reckless and even excessive in

931
00:53:02,600 --> 00:53:06,160
Speaker 1: terms of defense, but still claimed there was no murderous intent.

932
00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:09,600
Speaker 1: The court heard that Judah threats to his life. Murray

933
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:12,480
Speaker 1: had volunteered to be held in isolation in prison, and

934
00:53:12,560 --> 00:53:14,719
Speaker 1: it was likely had remained there for the entirety of

935
00:53:14,800 --> 00:53:18,279
Speaker 1: his sentence. Given that his lawyer said any term of

936
00:53:18,320 --> 00:53:22,880
Speaker 1: imprisonment would be disproportionately more difficult for Murray, she implored

937
00:53:22,920 --> 00:53:26,120
Speaker 1: the judge to consider a life sentence as manifestly unjust

938
00:53:26,239 --> 00:53:29,239
Speaker 1: for her client, and submitted a fixed sentence would be

939
00:53:29,239 --> 00:53:32,480
Speaker 1: more appropriate. It was then time for Justice Wiley to

940
00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:35,719
Speaker 1: address the court. He outlined the offending and then began

941
00:53:35,800 --> 00:53:39,719
Speaker 1: to discuss Murray's personal circumstances. He revealed that then thirty

942
00:53:39,719 --> 00:53:42,680
Speaker 1: four year old had a number of prior convictions, including

943
00:53:42,760 --> 00:53:45,520
Speaker 1: one for common assault in two thousand and seven and

944
00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:48,120
Speaker 1: of possession of an offensive weapon in two thousand and eight.

945
00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:52,080
Speaker 1: In both cases, sentences of community work were imposed at

946
00:53:52,160 --> 00:53:56,360
Speaker 1: relatively low levels. Given the previous offending was not serious

947
00:53:56,440 --> 00:53:59,120
Speaker 1: and Murray had never been sentenced to jail time, he

948
00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:03,239
Speaker 1: would not factor the earlier convictions into his decision. Justice

949
00:54:03,239 --> 00:54:06,319
Speaker 1: Wiley outlined Murray's life up until the murder, reading from

950
00:54:06,360 --> 00:54:10,000
Speaker 1: pre sentence reports compiled after specialist interviews with the offender.

951
00:54:10,960 --> 00:54:13,320
Speaker 1: He left school at sixteen and worked for family members

952
00:54:13,360 --> 00:54:17,960
Speaker 1: building retaining walls and trenches. In twenty ten, he enrolled

953
00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:21,640
Speaker 1: in and passed an automotive and mechanical engineering course. He

954
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:23,759
Speaker 1: was unable to get an apprenticeship in that field, though,

955
00:54:24,040 --> 00:54:27,239
Speaker 1: so engaged in further study, But when his mother, whom

956
00:54:27,280 --> 00:54:30,239
Speaker 1: he was close to, was diagnosed with cancer, Murray put

957
00:54:30,280 --> 00:54:32,919
Speaker 1: his studies on hold. The court heard that he spent

958
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:36,000
Speaker 1: the last six months of her life supporting her. At

959
00:54:36,040 --> 00:54:37,759
Speaker 1: the time of the murder, Murray was living with his

960
00:54:37,880 --> 00:54:40,840
Speaker 1: partner and daughter, He had two older children from a

961
00:54:40,880 --> 00:54:44,920
Speaker 1: previous relationship. Murray was involved in rugby league and cackboxing,

962
00:54:45,320 --> 00:54:47,800
Speaker 1: and told pre sentence report writers that he endeavored to

963
00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:50,680
Speaker 1: spend as much time as possible with his kids and family.

964
00:54:51,560 --> 00:54:54,439
Speaker 1: He said he didn't drink regularly, but consumed cannabis daily.

965
00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:56,880
Speaker 1: He was first introduced to the drug when he was

966
00:54:57,040 --> 00:55:02,120
Speaker 1: just thirteen. He had no gang affiliations or associations. Justice

967
00:55:02,160 --> 00:55:05,719
Speaker 1: Wiley said, you have expressed remorse for your offending. You

968
00:55:05,840 --> 00:55:08,080
Speaker 1: told the report writer that you're sorry for the emotional

969
00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:10,919
Speaker 1: harm that you've caused to the Morris family and also

970
00:55:11,200 --> 00:55:14,200
Speaker 1: the impact on your own family. You stated that you

971
00:55:14,280 --> 00:55:16,600
Speaker 1: were trying to save your younger brother and that you

972
00:55:16,800 --> 00:55:20,839
Speaker 1: understand that you cannot turn back time. The report writer

973
00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:25,000
Speaker 1: identified two factors as contributing to your offending, namely your

974
00:55:25,080 --> 00:55:30,000
Speaker 1: use of cannabis and your propensity for violence. You didn't

975
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:32,440
Speaker 1: agree with this assessment and stated that your use of

976
00:55:32,480 --> 00:55:34,960
Speaker 1: cannabis did not affet your decision making on the night

977
00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:38,080
Speaker 1: in question. You did, however, agree that your daily use

978
00:55:38,120 --> 00:55:40,960
Speaker 1: of cannabis is of concern, and you've indicated that you're

979
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:44,279
Speaker 1: open to engaging in a rehabilitative program for drug use

980
00:55:44,360 --> 00:55:47,520
Speaker 1: while in custody. You also told the report writer that

981
00:55:47,600 --> 00:55:50,279
Speaker 1: you do not see yourself as a violent person and

982
00:55:50,400 --> 00:55:53,760
Speaker 1: that you are simply defending your brother. You are, however,

983
00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:58,600
Speaker 1: open to undertaking an assessment with the departmental psychologist. The

984
00:55:58,680 --> 00:56:02,160
Speaker 1: report stated Murray had been compliant in prison, demonstrated an

985
00:56:02,200 --> 00:56:06,040
Speaker 1: appropriate attitude, and was drug free. He appeared to be

986
00:56:06,160 --> 00:56:09,680
Speaker 1: motivated to improve his well being, education and self understanding

987
00:56:09,760 --> 00:56:13,720
Speaker 1: while in prison. The judge said, you were nevertheless assessed

988
00:56:13,760 --> 00:56:17,120
Speaker 1: as presenting a medium likelihood of reoffending due to the

989
00:56:17,160 --> 00:56:20,719
Speaker 1: frequency of your offending, albeit at a relatively minor level

990
00:56:20,880 --> 00:56:22,080
Speaker 1: since nineteen ninety nine.

991
00:56:22,719 --> 00:56:23,920
Speaker 2: Your risk of harm to others is.

992
00:56:23,920 --> 00:56:26,680
Speaker 1: Assessed is very high due to the nature of your

993
00:56:26,719 --> 00:56:33,320
Speaker 1: attack on mister Morris. Justice Wiley explained in court that

994
00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:35,759
Speaker 1: in sentencing Murray he had to hold him accountable for

995
00:56:35,840 --> 00:56:38,880
Speaker 1: his offending, promote in him a sense of responsibility for

996
00:56:39,120 --> 00:56:42,840
Speaker 1: an acknowledgment of that offending, and importantly, he needed to

997
00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:46,080
Speaker 1: denounce the conduct in which Murray was involved. There was

998
00:56:46,120 --> 00:56:48,799
Speaker 1: also a need to deter others from committing the same

999
00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:53,200
Speaker 1: or similar offenses. The judge said, I've taken into account

1000
00:56:53,280 --> 00:56:56,440
Speaker 1: the gravity of the offending which you were involved, including

1001
00:56:56,480 --> 00:57:00,680
Speaker 1: your culpability. I've considered the seriousness of this time offending

1002
00:57:01,080 --> 00:57:04,880
Speaker 1: and the general desirability of consistency of appropriate sentencing levels

1003
00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:07,520
Speaker 1: between similar offenders committing similar offenses.

1004
00:57:08,320 --> 00:57:09,040
Speaker 2: I've also been.

1005
00:57:08,960 --> 00:57:12,040
Speaker 1: Mindful that I must impose the least restrictive outcome that

1006
00:57:12,200 --> 00:57:16,000
Speaker 1: is appropriate in the circumstances. There may be cases where

1007
00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:19,400
Speaker 1: the circumstances of a murder, absent issues of future risk

1008
00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:22,520
Speaker 1: to public safety, would be manifestly unjust to impose a

1009
00:57:22,600 --> 00:57:26,920
Speaker 1: sentence of life imprisonment. Excessive self defense can constitute a

1010
00:57:27,000 --> 00:57:31,720
Speaker 1: situation where life imprisonment may be manifestly unjust. Despite these

1011
00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:35,920
Speaker 1: various observations, the threshold of manifest unjustice has been met

1012
00:57:36,040 --> 00:57:39,520
Speaker 1: in very few cases. The threshold has only been met

1013
00:57:39,680 --> 00:57:43,360
Speaker 1: in four cases. One case involved a mercy killing, where

1014
00:57:43,360 --> 00:57:46,040
Speaker 1: an elderly man killed his wife who was suffering from dementia.

1015
00:57:46,760 --> 00:57:50,040
Speaker 1: Another involved a man suffering from a major psychiatric illness

1016
00:57:50,320 --> 00:57:54,120
Speaker 1: accompanied by psychotic delusions who killed his elderly neighbour, whom

1017
00:57:54,120 --> 00:57:57,600
Speaker 1: he believed was spying on him. The third case involved

1018
00:57:57,640 --> 00:57:59,720
Speaker 1: a mentally impaired woman who had been abused by the

1019
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:03,040
Speaker 1: desire ceased in others, and the fourth a secondary party

1020
00:58:03,120 --> 00:58:06,160
Speaker 1: with a peripheral role in the killing. All of these

1021
00:58:06,240 --> 00:58:10,000
Speaker 1: cases differ markedly from your situation. I do not consider

1022
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:12,640
Speaker 1: that it would be manifestly unjust to impose a sentence

1023
00:58:12,680 --> 00:58:17,000
Speaker 1: of life imprisonment in your case. Justice Wiley explained his

1024
00:58:17,120 --> 00:58:21,080
Speaker 1: reasons for that decision. He told Murray, your case is

1025
00:58:21,080 --> 00:58:24,480
Speaker 1: all the characteristics that are frequently associated with serious assaults

1026
00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:27,640
Speaker 1: and killings, young men who have been drinking too much

1027
00:58:28,080 --> 00:58:31,160
Speaker 1: and who have become involved in provocative and threatening conduct

1028
00:58:31,600 --> 00:58:35,560
Speaker 1: which is quickly escalated into physical violence and on occasion death.

1029
00:58:36,240 --> 00:58:38,280
Speaker 1: While I accept you were just trying to assist your

1030
00:58:38,320 --> 00:58:41,520
Speaker 1: younger brother, the force you used was clearly excessive.

1031
00:58:42,120 --> 00:58:44,800
Speaker 2: That was the jury's view. It is also my view.

1032
00:58:45,720 --> 00:58:47,640
Speaker 1: When you went back to your property to get the sickle,

1033
00:58:48,160 --> 00:58:51,760
Speaker 1: you could have simply wrung the police. The evidence established

1034
00:58:51,840 --> 00:58:54,080
Speaker 1: that you had a cell phone. You could have simply

1035
00:58:54,120 --> 00:58:57,360
Speaker 1: stayed on your property. At that stage, your brother was not,

1036
00:58:57,480 --> 00:59:02,720
Speaker 1: to your knowledge, being attacked. There was premeditation, albeit relatively limited.

1037
00:59:03,440 --> 00:59:05,640
Speaker 1: You went to get the sickle, You brought it back

1038
00:59:05,720 --> 00:59:09,560
Speaker 1: to what was at that stage a fistfight. You introduced

1039
00:59:09,600 --> 00:59:13,200
Speaker 1: the sickle into the confrontation. You were not a callow

1040
00:59:13,280 --> 00:59:17,120
Speaker 1: intoxicated youth. You were thirty four years old, and unlike

1041
00:59:17,200 --> 00:59:21,760
Speaker 1: others involved, you were not grossly intoxicated. While there was

1042
00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:24,880
Speaker 1: clearly evidence that your brother was being attacked, I suspect

1043
00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:28,240
Speaker 1: that your description of the attack on him was significantly overstated.

1044
00:59:28,800 --> 00:59:32,120
Speaker 1: The evidence at trial suggested that he only suffered relatively

1045
00:59:32,200 --> 00:59:35,240
Speaker 1: minor injuries. The evidence of an eye witness who had

1046
00:59:35,320 --> 00:59:37,760
Speaker 1: not been drinking and who had no relationship with any

1047
00:59:37,880 --> 00:59:40,680
Speaker 1: of the parties involved was that you did not pause,

1048
00:59:41,120 --> 00:59:43,280
Speaker 1: that you did not do anything to indicate that you

1049
00:59:43,400 --> 00:59:46,560
Speaker 1: were first trying to get mister Morris's attention, and that

1050
00:59:46,680 --> 00:59:49,160
Speaker 1: it looked like you knew what you were going to do.

1051
00:59:50,840 --> 00:59:53,280
Speaker 1: In my view, a sentence short of life imprisonment would

1052
00:59:53,360 --> 00:59:57,040
Speaker 1: undermine the purposes of denunciation and deterrence and failed to

1053
00:59:57,120 --> 01:00:00,040
Speaker 1: recognize the seriousness of your offending and the degree.

1054
00:59:59,800 --> 01:00:00,720
Speaker 2: Of your culpability.

1055
01:00:01,440 --> 01:00:04,080
Speaker 1: It would also fail to acknowledge that a society governed

1056
01:00:04,120 --> 01:00:07,000
Speaker 1: by the rule of law cannot let its citizens take

1057
01:00:07,000 --> 01:00:10,880
Speaker 1: the law into their own hands, except in very limited circumstances.

1058
01:00:11,640 --> 01:00:15,840
Speaker 1: This was not one of those exceptional cases. Justice Wiley

1059
01:00:15,880 --> 01:00:18,560
Speaker 1: said the minimum non parole period could not be less

1060
01:00:18,600 --> 01:00:22,320
Speaker 1: than ten years. He accepted prison would be hard for

1061
01:00:22,440 --> 01:00:25,040
Speaker 1: Murray given the threats made to a safety and that

1062
01:00:25,080 --> 01:00:27,440
Speaker 1: it was likely the offender would be kept apart from

1063
01:00:27,520 --> 01:00:30,920
Speaker 1: many other prisoners. He said that was unfortunate, but it

1064
01:00:31,000 --> 01:00:31,720
Speaker 1: was not unique.

1065
01:00:32,600 --> 01:00:33,320
Speaker 2: He told Murray.

1066
01:00:34,000 --> 01:00:36,360
Speaker 1: In my view, a minimum term of imprisonment of ten

1067
01:00:36,440 --> 01:00:40,160
Speaker 1: years is necessary to hold you accountable, to denounce your conduct,

1068
01:00:40,600 --> 01:00:43,840
Speaker 1: to deter importantly in this case, others from committing the

1069
01:00:43,880 --> 01:00:47,320
Speaker 1: same more similar offenses, and given the pre sentence report,

1070
01:00:47,560 --> 01:00:51,160
Speaker 1: to protect the community from you. You are sentenced to

1071
01:00:51,200 --> 01:00:53,320
Speaker 1: a term of imprisonment for life for the murder of

1072
01:00:53,400 --> 01:00:56,680
Speaker 1: Connor Marris. I impose a minimum term of imprisonment of

1073
01:00:56,800 --> 01:01:00,720
Speaker 1: ten years. Mister Murray, you have of express willingness to

1074
01:01:00,800 --> 01:01:03,760
Speaker 1: improve yourself while you're in custody. You have said you

1075
01:01:03,760 --> 01:01:06,560
Speaker 1: will take advantage of the rehabilitator of programs that will

1076
01:01:06,560 --> 01:01:08,920
Speaker 1: be offered to you. I trust that you will make

1077
01:01:08,960 --> 01:01:11,400
Speaker 1: good on this and ultimately you will be able to

1078
01:01:11,440 --> 01:01:16,040
Speaker 1: make amends to the community for your offending. Outside court,

1079
01:01:16,160 --> 01:01:18,720
Speaker 1: Murray's lawyer told the media that a sentence was fair,

1080
01:01:19,320 --> 01:01:21,840
Speaker 1: but she would consider whether there were grounds for an appeal.

1081
01:01:23,120 --> 01:01:25,560
Speaker 1: She said, we have twenty eight days to do that.

1082
01:01:25,920 --> 01:01:28,960
Speaker 1: If we find grounds, we will appeal. He's being well

1083
01:01:29,000 --> 01:01:32,320
Speaker 1: looked after by corrections. He fears for his life every day.

1084
01:01:33,280 --> 01:01:36,560
Speaker 1: Detective Senior Sergeant Stan Brown, who led the investigation into

1085
01:01:36,600 --> 01:01:40,160
Speaker 1: Connor's death, had no opinion on the sentence. He said,

1086
01:01:40,760 --> 01:01:43,600
Speaker 1: we are just there for the victims. Victims come from

1087
01:01:43,680 --> 01:01:47,360
Speaker 1: everywhere in society. Our hearts go up to both families,

1088
01:01:47,800 --> 01:01:50,960
Speaker 1: but particularly the Morris family, the grief that they are feeling.

1089
01:01:52,080 --> 01:01:54,760
Speaker 1: They are a family, a mother, a father, and a sister.

1090
01:01:55,400 --> 01:01:57,720
Speaker 1: They have lost a member of that family, a son,

1091
01:01:58,160 --> 01:02:02,160
Speaker 1: a brother. They are hurting a menay. Not long after,

1092
01:02:02,400 --> 01:02:05,840
Speaker 1: an appeal was filed against Murray's conviction, as lawyers told

1093
01:02:05,840 --> 01:02:08,520
Speaker 1: the Court of Appeal that media interest in Connor's death

1094
01:02:08,760 --> 01:02:11,880
Speaker 1: led to an unfair trial because his partner was the

1095
01:02:11,960 --> 01:02:15,640
Speaker 1: daughter of a high profile broadcaster. They submitted more than

1096
01:02:15,680 --> 01:02:18,600
Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy stories about Connor's death that were

1097
01:02:18,600 --> 01:02:20,480
Speaker 1: published in the media in the year leading up to

1098
01:02:20,560 --> 01:02:24,960
Speaker 1: the trial, many sympathetic towards Milly. It was also submitted

1099
01:02:25,000 --> 01:02:27,480
Speaker 1: that the jury was at risk of being intimidated into

1100
01:02:27,560 --> 01:02:31,240
Speaker 1: convicting Murray by the involvement of the Headhunters. The Court

1101
01:02:31,280 --> 01:02:33,640
Speaker 1: of Appeal was told there were large numbers of gang

1102
01:02:33,720 --> 01:02:37,440
Speaker 1: members in court during the trial. The appeal was dismissed

1103
01:02:37,880 --> 01:02:40,360
Speaker 1: the Panel of seeing you judge's rejecting claims that the

1104
01:02:40,400 --> 01:02:43,480
Speaker 1: widespread media coverage would have swayed the jury either for

1105
01:02:43,920 --> 01:02:48,200
Speaker 1: or against Murray. They noted Justice Wiley clearly put precautions

1106
01:02:48,240 --> 01:02:50,640
Speaker 1: in place to avoid bias on the part of the jury,

1107
01:02:51,280 --> 01:02:54,000
Speaker 1: and they conceded that while the public would have had

1108
01:02:54,080 --> 01:02:57,439
Speaker 1: a degree of morbid curiosity in such a prominent murder

1109
01:02:57,480 --> 01:03:01,000
Speaker 1: in prosecution, that would not necessarily translate to such a

1110
01:03:01,080 --> 01:03:04,120
Speaker 1: degree of sympathy for Millie that it would prejudice Murray's

1111
01:03:04,160 --> 01:03:05,200
Speaker 1: right to a fair trial.

1112
01:03:06,440 --> 01:03:08,240
Speaker 2: The defense's argument that the jury.

1113
01:03:08,080 --> 01:03:11,280
Speaker 1: Would have been unduly intimidated by gay members or fears

1114
01:03:11,320 --> 01:03:14,560
Speaker 1: of retribution, and their claims that the trial judge misdirected

1115
01:03:14,640 --> 01:03:18,160
Speaker 1: the jury over the details of self defense, were also rejected.

1116
01:03:18,960 --> 01:03:22,240
Speaker 1: Murray's prison sentence stood life with.

1117
01:03:22,360 --> 01:03:23,760
Speaker 2: A minimum of ten years.

1118
01:03:26,520 --> 01:03:28,640
Speaker 1: As I was writing this episode of A Moment in Crime,

1119
01:03:28,960 --> 01:03:31,520
Speaker 1: there were just days until Michael Murray's first parole hearing.

1120
01:03:32,320 --> 01:03:34,480
Speaker 1: He appeared before a panel of probable members in his

1121
01:03:34,560 --> 01:03:38,400
Speaker 1: future was closely considered. The full details of the hearing

1122
01:03:38,480 --> 01:03:41,400
Speaker 1: and the board's decision are available on enzid herold dot

1123
01:03:41,480 --> 01:03:43,920
Speaker 1: co dot inzied. In the lead up to the hearing,

1124
01:03:44,120 --> 01:03:46,760
Speaker 1: Connor's loved ones shared their feelings about the next chapter.

1125
01:03:47,880 --> 01:03:50,520
Speaker 1: For ten years, they have lived without Connor, trying to

1126
01:03:50,600 --> 01:03:53,920
Speaker 1: rebuild their lives and grab whatever happiness they can. His

1127
01:03:54,040 --> 01:03:57,439
Speaker 1: parents and sisters still live in west Auckland. Millias spent

1128
01:03:57,520 --> 01:04:00,360
Speaker 1: time overseas, including living in Greece and connect with that

1129
01:04:00,480 --> 01:04:03,640
Speaker 1: part of her culture. She's firmly established herself as a

1130
01:04:03,680 --> 01:04:07,120
Speaker 1: content creator and lifestyle influencer, sharing her life with her

1131
01:04:07,160 --> 01:04:12,560
Speaker 1: followers on her terms. Connor's family often post tributes and

1132
01:04:12,600 --> 01:04:15,640
Speaker 1: their memories of him on social media. On the tenth

1133
01:04:15,640 --> 01:04:18,560
Speaker 1: anniversary of his death in August twenty twenty four, his

1134
01:04:18,760 --> 01:04:22,240
Speaker 1: mum marked the day, she wrote, every day for the

1135
01:04:22,320 --> 01:04:24,800
Speaker 1: past ten years, I've thought about what I've lost by

1136
01:04:24,800 --> 01:04:27,440
Speaker 1: the hand of a coward. We have been notified by

1137
01:04:27,480 --> 01:04:30,000
Speaker 1: the Parole Board that a hearing is scheduled this year.

1138
01:04:30,800 --> 01:04:35,040
Speaker 1: Our nightmare continues. I cannot begin to explain the impact

1139
01:04:35,080 --> 01:04:37,840
Speaker 1: as death has had on our lives. The court case,

1140
01:04:38,040 --> 01:04:43,040
Speaker 1: appeals and now parole, it's never ending. My beautiful granddaughters

1141
01:04:43,120 --> 01:04:46,480
Speaker 1: include Connor in whatever occasion they're celebrating, and they've made

1142
01:04:46,520 --> 01:04:49,880
Speaker 1: this journey of being a homicide survivor a little less daunting.

1143
01:04:50,800 --> 01:04:53,240
Speaker 1: In a year earlier, the family posted on a Facebook

1144
01:04:53,280 --> 01:04:55,680
Speaker 1: page set up to remember Connor after he died.

1145
01:04:56,480 --> 01:05:00,000
Speaker 2: They said, nine frigin years, how is this possible?

1146
01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:02,760
Speaker 1: The lead up to the day that changed our lives

1147
01:05:02,800 --> 01:05:05,960
Speaker 1: truver does not get any easier, more so because we're

1148
01:05:06,040 --> 01:05:10,680
Speaker 1: edging closer to having to relive our nightmare at parole hearing, however,

1149
01:05:11,000 --> 01:05:14,120
Speaker 1: I see Connor's beautiful eyes and remember his wicked sense

1150
01:05:14,160 --> 01:05:16,360
Speaker 1: of humor and laugh, and his love for his family.

1151
01:05:17,120 --> 01:05:19,720
Speaker 1: I get so angry thinking of Connor's killer going to

1152
01:05:19,720 --> 01:05:22,200
Speaker 1: get a weapon when it was a fist fight. Such

1153
01:05:22,240 --> 01:05:25,800
Speaker 1: a coward. He didn't face Connor, but rather swung the

1154
01:05:25,880 --> 01:05:29,560
Speaker 1: scythe at the back of his head, piercing his skin, muscle, bone,

1155
01:05:29,760 --> 01:05:32,720
Speaker 1: and brain matter with a depth of five centimeters.

1156
01:05:33,480 --> 01:05:34,160
Speaker 2: It was fatal.

1157
01:05:34,840 --> 01:05:36,440
Speaker 1: If this had been a punch, it would have been

1158
01:05:36,480 --> 01:05:41,240
Speaker 1: called a sucker punch, a coward's punch. Never once has

1159
01:05:41,280 --> 01:05:45,600
Speaker 1: he taken responsibility for his actions, instead blaming everyone but himself.

1160
01:05:46,520 --> 01:05:49,520
Speaker 1: Then came a plea of self defense, defense of his

1161
01:05:49,600 --> 01:05:54,840
Speaker 1: little brother. You Connor are a hero and Michael Thrift

1162
01:05:54,960 --> 01:05:58,000
Speaker 1: Murray is a good for nothing, yellow belly coward.

1163
01:05:59,360 --> 01:06:01,720
Speaker 2: The murder of Morris as a case that stuck with me.

1164
01:06:02,600 --> 01:06:04,560
Speaker 1: He may have been a gang member, he may have

1165
01:06:04,600 --> 01:06:07,120
Speaker 1: had a high profile family, He may have been in

1166
01:06:07,200 --> 01:06:09,919
Speaker 1: trouble in the past, But on the night he died,

1167
01:06:10,040 --> 01:06:13,360
Speaker 1: Connor was not in the wrong. His life was taken

1168
01:06:13,480 --> 01:06:17,640
Speaker 1: violently and unnecessarily. He had no chance against Murray and

1169
01:06:17,760 --> 01:06:21,200
Speaker 1: that weapon. After he died, his family were like any

1170
01:06:21,280 --> 01:06:26,640
Speaker 1: other in that situation, victims, grieving parents, a heartbreaking sister,

1171
01:06:27,080 --> 01:06:30,960
Speaker 1: and a partner devastated beyond measure. During the trial, his

1172
01:06:31,080 --> 01:06:35,000
Speaker 1: family were polite, calm, and dignified. They were respectful and

1173
01:06:35,040 --> 01:06:37,960
Speaker 1: friendly to the media and police. They were not there

1174
01:06:38,000 --> 01:06:41,800
Speaker 1: seeking attention. They did not want the spotlight. They were

1175
01:06:41,800 --> 01:06:45,240
Speaker 1: there for Connor, to see justice for Connor. There were

1176
01:06:45,320 --> 01:06:49,240
Speaker 1: no outbursts, there was no intimidation, There were no gang patches,

1177
01:06:50,080 --> 01:06:52,600
Speaker 1: just a group of people broken by what happened on

1178
01:06:52,680 --> 01:06:56,760
Speaker 1: don Buck Road that night. Many people were judgmental about

1179
01:06:56,800 --> 01:06:59,240
Speaker 1: Connor's death and the trial because of the gang connection.

1180
01:07:00,120 --> 01:07:02,000
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, in that courtroom,

1181
01:07:02,440 --> 01:07:05,920
Speaker 1: Connor was an innocent victim. His family were innocent victims,

1182
01:07:06,560 --> 01:07:15,920
Speaker 1: and they all deserve justice. A Moment in Crime is

1183
01:07:15,960 --> 01:07:20,120
Speaker 1: an nzedme podcast written and hosted by me Annalisque, senior

1184
01:07:20,160 --> 01:07:23,080
Speaker 1: crime and justice reporter for The New Zealand Herald. The

1185
01:07:23,200 --> 01:07:26,880
Speaker 1: podcast is produced by myself, enzed me, audio engineer James

1186
01:07:26,920 --> 01:07:31,520
Speaker 1: Irwin and podcast production manager Ethan Sells. The information in

1187
01:07:31,600 --> 01:07:35,080
Speaker 1: this episode came entirely from published coverage of Connor's death

1188
01:07:35,520 --> 01:07:39,320
Speaker 1: and the trial of Michael Murray. The information was either

1189
01:07:39,400 --> 01:07:42,520
Speaker 1: presented in court or published by Connor's loved ones as

1190
01:07:42,600 --> 01:07:46,040
Speaker 1: tributes meant for sharing my thoughts as always are with

1191
01:07:46,080 --> 01:07:50,120
Speaker 1: Connor's family and friends, particularly his parents and sister, his

1192
01:07:50,280 --> 01:07:54,200
Speaker 1: nieces and Millie. Episodes of A Moment in Crime are

1193
01:07:54,320 --> 01:07:59,240
Speaker 1: usually released monthly on ensidherld, dot co, dot zed iHeartRadio.

1194
01:07:58,720 --> 01:08:00,480
Speaker 2: And all of your usual podcast steps.

1195
01:08:01,760 --> 01:08:03,560
Speaker 1: If you have a crimal case you'd like me to

1196
01:08:03,640 --> 01:08:07,200
Speaker 1: consider covering email and a dot least get insidmee dot

1197
01:08:07,280 --> 01:08:08,240
Speaker 1: co dot inzid