Teen admits sleeping mate’s violent killing
‘‘Shall we kill Oliver?’’ Heath Eric Morris asked as a group drove to a North Canterbury property where he would bash his ‘‘friend’’ to death as he slept.
Morris, 19, yesterday admitted the murder of Oliver Johnston, whose body was left in a paddock at the Jelfs Rd, Woodend, property for a week in June last year.
The High Court in Christchurch heard Johnston was aged
20 when the pair met at a fast food restaurant in Papanui, and then began socialising, and contacting each other by phone and social media.
They arranged to meet in a paddock near a forest in Webbs Rd, Amberley, for a party that had been organised on Facebook for June
23.
They arrived separately about
7pm and Morris drank 12 Woodstock bourbon and cola pre-mixed drinks over the next six hours.
Morris and one of his associates were involved in a confrontation with other partygoers.
Morris, Johnston and three of their associates then decided to leave the party together, and four went in one car to the Jelfs Rd property.
During the trip, Morris said to the associate sitting next to him, ‘‘Shall we kill Oliver?’’ He then said, ‘‘Bro, no-one’s going to miss him.’’ He repeated this about five times.
The group cooked a meal at the house and then went to the sleepout. Morris and Johnston played a video game together while the others went to sleep on a mattress. Johnston then went to sleep in a sleeping bag.
Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier said Morris then struck Johnston multiple times in the face and head with an item that had a 30-millimetre round-shaped end.
The force of these blows broke Johnston’s skull in several places, and broke his jaw and cheekbone. The injuries were not survivable.
Morris removed the body – dragging it down a concrete path, over the gravel driveway and through a gap in a fence – and hid it in a paddock, covering it with soil and grass.
Morris then went back inside and began cleaning up the floor and mattresses using a spray disinfectant and a cloth.
An associate woke and saw the blood. Morris told him he had ‘‘cracked Oli on the lip’’. He said the victim had been pestering him for a turn on the Xbox, and that a friend had picked him up.
After sleeping again until 10am, Morris told the friend he had ‘‘cracked him twice’’.
Morris had breakfast with his family and his associate and then returned to the sleepout to continue cleaning up the blood.
Johnston suffered blows that broke bones in his skull, cheek, upper jaw on the left side of his head, and from his eye to his ear. Part of the skull was broken away and found in the hood of his jacket.
Morris told police, ‘‘I haven’t done anything’’, and declined to give them a formal interview.
Justice Gerald Nation remanded Morris, who has previously faced criminal charges, in custody for sentencing in the High Court at Christchurch on April 12.