Body pushed under the 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.

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’’ before Protos was killed in 2014.

On April 26, Protos went to a house in central Christchurch, where he met Samson, who accused him of spreading rumours about her.

He was assaulted and 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. At 7.20pm, Protos was dressed and Samson drove him to her home. Protos showered and the argument continued.

Samson, a mother of three, then wrapped a computer cable around his neck and strangled him. She wrapped him in a blanket and pushed him under the bed. She sent a text to a friend saying she was ‘‘cleaning up my mess’’.

Samson told police the next day 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.