Jury deliberating over car boot death
The judge in the trial of six men charged with the kidnap and manslaughter of Auckland woman Jindarat Prutsiriporn gave his closing address to the jury yesterday.
Prutsiriporn, 50, died when she fell, bound and gagged, from the boot of a moving car in Papatoetoe, south Auckland, on March 1, 2016. She had been kidnapped the previous day.
Six men are on trial for her manslaughter and kidnapping in the High Court in Auckland.
Justice Matthew Palmer closed the more than two-month long trial telling the jury: ‘‘The only steps left are for me to sum up the case, and for you to deliberate, and to deliver your verdicts.
‘‘Given the amount of evidence ... your deliberations may take some time.’’
The Crown alleged there was bad blood between drug dealer Prutsiriporn, and defendant Seng Lek Liev.
It was the Crown’s case Liev was the mastermind behind the kidnapping plot, and he engaged a group within the Head Hunters gang, known as the ‘‘Ghost Unit’’, to snatch Prutsiriporn.
The group attempted to kidnap Prutsiriporn on February 15 but failed when police found them waiting outside her house.
Two weeks later, the group lured her to a car outside her house under the ruse of a drug deal. Prutsiriporn was dragged out of the car to another waiting car.
The group allegedly held Prutsiriporn in different locations for about 22 hours until she escaped from a car boot on March 1 about 7.30pm.
The court heard how she escaped from the boot of the moving car by using a chef’s steel to force the boot open. When the car accelerated, she fell out and suffered a blow to the head, which resulted in her death.
The Crown never alleged her death was intentional.
All of the defendants, including Liev, denied their various involvement in the crime.
The jury of four men and six women began their deliberations yesterday afternoon.
The charges: Seng Lek Liev, Apichart Korhomklan and Luigi Havea: One charge each for manslaughter and kidnapping.
Masi Vaifali and Joseph Benjamin Haurua: Each defending one manslaughter charge.
Tevita Matangi Fangupo: Defending a charge of kidnapping.
Soaradith Soa: Has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and kidnapping – he is not part of the current trial. Panepasa Havea: Has pleaded guilty to kidnapping – he is not part of the current trial. Raymond Brown: He has pleaded guilty to kidnapping – he is not part of the current trial.
Two people were thrown about 10 metres from a four-wheel-drive in a chaotic crash on a major North Island highway on Sunday evening. Kirsten Maree Mann, who was the sole occupant of one vehicle, died at the scene of the head-on collision on State Highway 1 at Kinleith. The 27-year-old was from Napier. Two others, both in their 20s, were ejected on impact. They suffered serious injuries. Another person suffered moderate injuries.
A cyclist died after falling off his bike on a busy Christchurch road. The 66-year-old man fell from his bike on to Cashmere Rd while on a midmorning ride on Saturday. A police spokeswoman said the man was rushed to hospital with critical head injuries. He died on Sunday evening.