Murder accused says he acted alone

Two men are standing trial following the murder of Lance John Murphy (below.

The man accused of murdering Lance John Murphy told a court he stripped to his underpants to wash in a creek and perform a Maori warrior ritual, before acting alone in bashing him to death on a hilltop.

Michael Joseph Davies, 52, is standing trial accused of kidnapping long-time friend of 30 years, before killing him in Puhoi in November 2015.

Davies' co-accused, 38-year-old Steve Gunbie, is charged with helping in the kidnapping and with hiding the body.

On Tuesday, Davies, also known as Michael Waipouri, told the High Court at Auckland, Gunbie had played no part in the attack on Lance.

When questioned by Gunbie's lawyer Adam Couchman, Davies accepted he had not seen Gunbie since Christmas Day in 2011 before suddenly arriving at his mother's home in November 2015 with Lance.

Later in the evening he attacked Lance with an aluminium bat, catching Lance and Gunbie by surprise, he said.

Then the next morning, Davies put handcuffs on Lance, forced him into the boot of a car, and drove to the top of a hilltop in Puhoi where he bashed Lance to death with a bat and a tree branch.

Gunbie would have preferred the attack never even happened, Davies says.

Earlier, Davies told the court he came to increasingly believe Lance had killed his long-time wife, Wendy Murphy, by giving her a lethal dose of medication when she was sick with cancer in 2015.

He says Lance had complained about the cost of looking after his wife and that she stank and was unruly.

Davies also believed Lance, a short time later, played a part in Wendy's mother's death by withholding medication from her.

When Davies shared accusations that Lance had killed his wife and mother-in-law with a friend, Lance heard about it and sent men over to intimidate him.

Davies said this was the beginning of a six month campaign by Lance to get rid of him that included an attempt to frame him for a crime and threat to use him as "a boat anchor".

Davies says Lance had also boasted he was a hit man, who had killed 10 people, including a work colleague at a steel factory called Jim Donnelly, whose body has never been found after he went missing in 2004.

"Lance told me he had thrown that man into the [factory's blast] furnace," he said.

Davies believed Lance was possessed by 10 demon heads, representing every person he had killed and that the spirit of Wendy Murphy wished him to take revenge.

He decided he must act first against Lance.

"I realised I had a loose cannon out on the street with a dark hate for me and the element of surprise on me," Davies says in reference to Lance.

He then invited Mr Murphy to help him pick up a large delivery of drugs and drove him to Gunbie's mother's house.

The trial continues.

Source: AAP/Ben Leahy

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