Murder-trial witness declared hostile

Press, 26 February 1986, Page 4

Murder-trial witness declared hostile

A girl, aged 16, a member of the Black Power Gang, who admitted drinking whisky and beer and taking two types of pills, was declared hostile on the application of the Crown by Mr Justice Holland in the High Court yesterday. The girl was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of two men who have denied a joint charge of murder arising from a shooting in the Woolston Tavern late on September 27. , Wally Awatere, aged 28, a scrubcutter, and Andrew Peter McGlynn, aged 18, unemployed, have pleaded not guilty to a charge of the murder of Edward Ivan Nelson, aged 34.

Awatere has denied a further charge of being an accessory after murder by enabling McGlynn to leave the scene and avoid arrest. Mr G. K. Panckhurst and Miss B. J. Draper appear for the Crown; Messrs G. R. Lascelles and G. F. Orchard for Awatere, and Mr M. J. Knowles for McGlynn. The trial is unlikely to finish before Friday.

Evidence has been given that Mr Edwards was shot four times in the back, one bullet penetrating the heart and lung, in what appears to be a vendetta arising from a gang feud. Charles Alan Schooner, a plastic welder, gave evidence that about 8.30 p.m. on September 27 he went to the Woolston Tavern with his girlfriend and met his parents there. He played pool. Edward Nelson, the man who was shot, was also there. He was not a regular at the tavern but “popped in" occasionally. Late in the evening Black Power Gang members arrived in a Zephyr car which was parked close to a window. Awatere was driving the car. The Black Power group stood by the band platform. One woman moved away from the bunch and stared in the direction of the jukebox at a woman

there. That went on for about two minutes. “I noticed this because everyone seemed to be focusing on the people who had come in because Black Power members had been banned from the bar,” Mr Schooner said.

Mr Nelson walked towards the telephone and two members of Black Power followed him. One was Awatere, who was wearing jeans, a black shirt, and a leather jacket with a patch on it. The other person was a Polynesian with dots or stars by one eye. He had a thin, black moustache and wore a denim jacket with the sleeves cut out. He had no headband. Witness identified McGlynn as that person.

There was some conversation between the three men and then witness heard someone cry out as if he had been punched and saw Mr Nelson getting up from the floor.

Mr Nelson was still in a crouching position as he got up when five shots rang out in quick succession. Awatere was in front of him and McGlynn was behind him and they started walking towards witness. Mr Nelson was lying on the floor by the telephone. “No-one moved very much because of the shots. The jukebox was , very loud and you couldn’t hear very much. The two men were walking pretty fast and they went straight past me to the foyer,” Mr Schooner said.

McGlynn was holding his hands across the front of his body as if he was trying to hide something. The two men were joined by the rest of the group and went out through the foyer. “I yelled to the bar staff to ring the police and ambulance but nobody reacted so I went to the phone where Mr Nelson was lying and rang the police,” Mr Schooner said.

As the group left, glass panels in the door were

kicked in. Mr Nelson was lying on his back and Emaline- Wiparata and other persons were attending him. He was still breathing but not very much and there was blood coming from his mouth. To Mr Knowles, Mr Schooner said that the incident happened very quickly. There were about 50 people in the bar at the time but there was no-one in the area where Mr Nelson was killed.

They were all taken to the Central Police Station in a police bus. Witness had not been asked to identify anyone until the taking of depositions in the District Court. To Mr Lascelles, Mr Schooner said that he never saw Awatere holding a weapon, strike Mr Nelson, or heard him expressing hostility towards Mr Nelson.

A girl, aged 16, an associate of the Black Power Gang, was declared hostile by his Honour and the Crown was given leave to cross-examine its own witness.

This action was taken after she failed to answer questions put to her by Mr Panckhurst.

. The girl said that she was unemployed and was a member of the Black Power Gang. 1 On the evening of September 27 she went to the national marae in Pages Road where she drank with other members of the gang. Both accused 'were there. About 10.30 p.m. they left to go to the Woolston Tavern because she had heard that Emaline Wiparata was there and wanted to have a Tight with her.

Witness went in a Holden car driven by Lennie Nathan. They parked near the back entrance and she was the first to go inside. She saw Nina Wiparata , near the jukebox and asked her if she “wanted to have a go.” When Nina Wiparata refused to fight, (witness walked over to a leaner where McGlynn was standing. She told him that she was going to have a scrap with Nina. McGlynn was wearing a jacket but witness could not remember the type. When he pulled his jacket back she saw something wooden. McGlynn had not said anything. At this stage, Mr Justice Holland declared the witness hostile and Mr

Panckhurst was given leave. to cross-examine her on a written statement she had given to the police on October 1. The girl agreed that she had said in the statement that McGlynn was wearing a fairly long coat and that when he drew it back, she had seen a gun with a wooden handle. He told her that if she wanted him during the fight with Nina Wiparata just to call on him. The gun was tucked into the top of his trousers.

Witness denied hearing any shots fired in the tavern. When she approached Nina Wiparata a second time and invited her to go outside, she pulled a knife. Witness said she had told the detective about that when she made the statement. -

When Nina Wiparata.. would not go outside, wit- -. ness went back to the ‘7 band platform. She stayed ;

there a few minutes and then just walked out. She did not know why she left then. Some windows were kicked in. She did not see where McGlynn went. She did not see Teddy Nelson that night but she knew him because “he’s our cousin.” Witness agreed that she had told the detective that she had gone back to the bar and had seen Brutus (McGlynn) and Wally (Awatere) walk back across the bar. Just before that she had .heard the bangs of a gun but did not think it was shots. McGlynn and Awatere walked across the bar at a normal pace and said that Teddy Nelson was dead. Witness was not sure who made the remark but thought that it could have been Awatere. Neither was carrying anything. Before leaving, witness turned and said to Nina ■Wiparata that they were a “bunch of arseholes.” She then left through the back door and kicked in the glass panels. Later she ended up at the Central Police Station because she had fallen asleep in a taxi. To Mr Knowles, the girl said that she had been drinking whisky and beer and was taking two types of pills, including mogodon. - / ■-

She agreed that the wooden handle that she had seen could have been that of a knife or a small hatchet.