Boyfriend strangled, pushed under bed

A woman who had dated her boyfriend for seven weeks wrapped a computer cable three times around his neck and strangled him.

Zariah Jae Samson started her attack on Cory James Protos because she thought he was spreading rumours about her.

Once he was dead, she wrapped his body in a blanket and pushed him under the bed.

Samson, 25, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter in the High Court at Christchurch yesterday. She had spent three years facing a murder charge over the death of Protos, 30.

Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes said Samson and Protos had been in a ‘‘casual relationship’’ for about seven weeks before Protos was killed in 2014.

On April 26, Protos borrowed a friend’s vehicle to pick up some drugs, pay a bill and collect some belongings from Samson’s Bryndwr home.

He then went to a house in central Christchurch, where he met Samson, who became agitated and accused him of spreading rumours about her.

He was assaulted and another woman saw him with blood on his hands, looking shocked and sick.

He was made to remove his clothing to prove he was not wearing any recording devices and then his hands were bound and he was covered with a blanket. Samson punched and kicked him and pushed him over. The assault went on for hours. During the evening, a friend of Samson’s believed she was going to kill Protos and wanted the pair to leave the house.

At 7.20pm, Protos was dressed and Samson drove him to her Earnslaw Crescent home where she took him into a bedroom.

Protos showered and the argument continued.

Samson, a mother of three, inflicted a superficial cut to his neck and then wrapped a computer cable three times around his neck and strangled him.

She wrapped him in a blanket and pushed him under the bed.

She then sent a text message to a friend saying that she was ‘‘cleaning up my mess’’ and requesting cleaning products and petrol.

She drove Protos’ car to near his Avonhead home and left it in a cul-de-sac with some of his property in a plastic bag in the boot.

The next day a relative of Samson’s contacted the police.

Samson told police officers she and Protos had argued ‘‘about some trust issues’’ and the argument escalated to the point where a gun was held to her head.

She had then strangled him, Hawes said.

Justice Cameron Mander remanded Samson in custody for sentencing on Friday.

The case had been set down for trial on the murder charge in June 2015, and again this month, but both trial dates were abandoned.