Hammer was used to kill flatmate, Court told

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 16

Hammer was used to kill flatmate, Court told

PA Auckland An Auckland man, aged 25, killed his flatmate with a hammer then knocked himself on the head with it when the police arrived, a court was told. Two Justices of the Peace were given evidence against Ropati Leutele Aigaii, a cleaner, at a depositions hearing in the District Court in Auckland on Tuesday. Aigaii has denied murdering Gregory John Clark, aged 31, a forklift driver, in their Grey Lynn flat on November 21. He has also denied two unrelated charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on dates before Mr Clark’s death. Constable Fritz Atiga

said in evidence that he and another constable were called to a domestic dispute at the Crummer Road flat in the early morning of November 21. He knocked on the front door and “a Polynesian person I recognise as Aigaii” answered, dropping a hammer when he saw the constable. “I noticed the body of another person lying by the front door in front of me and pushed the door fully open,” he said. Aigaii told Constable Atiga: “I kill him, I kill him.” The defendant then raised his arms as if he wanted to be handcuffed but when the constable turned and called his partner, Aigaii ran into the bedroom. “I heard two thuds

coming from the room. When Aigaii came out he was still holding the hammer and I noticed blood was streaming from the wound in the middle of his forehead. He dropped the hammer.” Constable Atiga said he checked the man on the floor and noticed he was still breathing. He called an ambulance but on a second check a few minutes later the man had died. When questioned later at the police station, Aigaii said he went to the house and climbed in a window to kill Mr Clark who was sleeping. Much of the interview was unintelligible, including his reasons for the alleged killing. A post-mortem examination showed Mr

Clark died from extensive fractures and splits to his scalp and face “consistent with blows from a hammer.” Aigaii has also been charged with wounding Michael Lunn, aged 17, on August 26 last year. According to witnesses, the defendant walked up to Mr Lunn’s friends at a hotel and showed them his hands which were covered with a white substance. He ordered them to “pick the glue off his hands or he would hit someone.” When they refused, Aigaii allegedly punched Mr Lunn to the ground then used the heel of his shoe to stomp on his face. Aigaii was remanded to the High Court on May 18 for a trial date to be set.