No justice for Jayden
In the days after Jayden was attacked, Vercoe was interviewed by police on video.
Vercoe told them that on the night of the party, he took Jayden, who was screaming, into the lounge to change his nappy. He said the boy kept trying get away from him and that he slapped Jayden twice fairly hard to the head.
Later, Vercoe said they could have been blows or might have been punches.
‘‘I just hit him because he would not stop crying,’’ Vercoe said. ’’I just lost it.’’
He said he then put Jayden back to bed.
Vercoe was charged with murder. However, he later claimed he made a false confession to protect Perrin, whom he thought was going to be charged.
Vercoe said he did not hit Jayden.
His defence lawyer Nigel Hampton, QC, suggested that a confession was forced from his client. Hampton claimed in court that a detective had threatened Vercoe during an interview with another detective.
‘‘F*** you, Aaron,’’ the detective allegedly said. ‘‘If it wasn’t you, we’re going to charge her.’’
The detective denied saying this, but agreed that he did hear Vercoe say – as he was leaving the room with Perrin – ‘‘okay, I did it, I did it.’’
Defence witness Phil Brinded, a Christchurch-based forensic psychiatrist, told the court that, in his opinion, Vercoe would be vulnerable to giving unreliable testimony in that type of police interview situation. He said that in his opinion the interview was aggressive, with psychological pressure, among other factors. In his closing summary, Hampton said Vercoe’s false confession fell into the category of ‘‘coerced complaint’’, where a person felt they were under intense pressure in an interview. To stop the pressure, they made an admission of guilt, even though they knew they were not responsible. He said it was possible the injuries were caused by other people in the house, or someone who might have entered the house from outside. Vercoe was acquitted of murdering Jayden, after the two-week trial on February 27, 1999.
INTERVIEWED
After the trial, Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne Stringer, of Nelson police, said there was no evidence to support a further investigation or charge anyone else, and Jayden’s killing would not be re-investigated unless new evidence was put forward by the Crown.
Now retired, Stringer says he wants to help ensure Jayden’s story is told.
Stringer had interviewed Vercoe for four to five hours, but got no admissions. He said there was forensic evidence submitted that showed Jayden had what appeared to be the big ridge of a fisherman’s sock imprinted into his forehead.
Then police interviewed Vercoe again.
Stringer says in the first trial, which was abandoned, this interview was not allowed.
During the second trial, he said Hampton offered a plea of manslaughter, but it was the Crown’s decision not to accept it.
‘‘[They] said no and pushed for murder. The guy walked.’’
The Solicitor General’s office confirmed a manslaughter plea bargain was offered by defence but declined.
A spokeswoman said the offer was conditional on the defendant retaining the right to appeal. She said that meant the defence intended to appeal against the conviction despite pleading guilty. They would be able to challenge legal rulings made during the trial.
The proposal was not accepted by the Solicitor-general of the time because there was ‘‘no finality in the plea’’, the spokeswoman said.
Hampton said he could not comment on the case other than he had no recollection of such an offer being made.
Stringer said as a result of Vercoe being acquitted, another policeman who worked on the case left the police force after more than 25 years of service.
‘PERSONS UNKNOWN’
That officer, former Detective Rick Lowe, believes if a manslaughter plea bargain was taken, there might have been a conviction.
‘‘It could have summed up the situation better than it was.’’
Lowe says he had put the case into a ‘‘compartment’’ but the recent coverage of Moko Rangitoheriri’s killing had brought it back up.
‘‘Not everything is black and white in these decisions … You have a decision in Auckland that goes one way and a case in Nelson 16 years ago that goes the other way.’’
Lowe, who left the force a few years after the case, says it contributed to him wanting to move on from policing.
‘‘It has a cumulative effect. You wonder where it’s going.’’
In the months after the acquittal, Jayden’s death came before a coroner.
Coroner Ian Smith ruled that Jayden died from ‘‘sustaining severe blows to the head from persons unknown’’.
NO JUSTICE
Perrin believes she knows who that person is.
After Jayden’s killing, Perrin would visit his grave in Marsden Valley Cemetery several times a day. Now, it is harder.
‘‘There’s not a day I don’t think about it … I haven’t gotten past it. I haven’t moved on.’’
Her eldest daughter Juanita was close to Jayden, and his death still profoundly affected her.
Perrin says Jayden was delivered six weeks premature by emergency caesarean section, and weighed 6lb 1oz. She recalls that at the time he died, he only had two or three teeth.
She said a conviction would not help her son, but it would at least give him justice.
‘‘It shouldn’t happen to anyone’s kids … I see stories all the time of people’s kids being murdered. It’s sick.’’
Vercoe did not to respond to requests, via his father, for comment.
However, his father said he believed his son was innocent, and did not know why he initially confessed. He said it would be better just to leave the case alone.