Murder trial: Witness at motel heard thuds
A man staying in an Invercargill motel heard thuds hours before a woman’s body was found in the unit next door, the jury in a High Court murder trial was told.
Samuel Moses Samson, 32, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Azalia Wilson, 22, who was found dead at the Bavarian Motel, Waikiwi, on November 17, 2019.
The Crown alleges Samson killed Wilson in a ‘‘jealous rage’’.
The trial started at Invercargill on March 8, before Justice Gerald Nation.
Kereru Moses was called as a Crown witness yesterday.
He was staying in unit 20 at the motel when his crying infant son woke him up about 1.30am, on November 17.
He heard arguing next door, voices of a male and a female, and a couple of thuds. The voices were muffled and he could not distinguish the words being said.
Moses went outside to check his car. No-one was out there and he went back to sleep.
Under cross-examination, Moses said that when he heard the noises it might have been a normal couple coming back from having a few drinks and having an argument.
He gave a statement to police two days later, in which he said he was 80 per cent sure the noises were from unit 19 next door.
Constable Stephen Cubitt was called as a Crown witness yesterday. He was one of the first police officers in the motel room.
Police were at the motel because they had been told the deceased, Azalia Wilson, may be in a unit, he said.
He walked beside the wall towards the bedroom in a bid to avoid contamination of the crime scene and tripped over a phone cord, he said.
When he reached the bedroom, he saw a person covered in blood on a double bed, he said.
There was no-one else in the motel unit.
Under cross-examination, Cubitt agreed he was told Samson was wanted in relation to a serious assault and the victim may be in the motel.
Constable Tony McGolderick was also called as a Crown witness yesterday. He entered the motel unit with Cubitt.
Both men were scene guards at the motel on November 17, after the body was found.
There was at least one car at the scene that caused McGolderick concern, he agreed during cross-examination.
At 12.43pm there was a vehicle parked outside the motel, the constable recorded in his notebook, which he read from in court.
‘‘He just continually looked into the motel complex,’’ McGolderick said.
McGolderick directed Cubitt to get the details of the person in the car who had been there for between 30 and 45 minutes, and on his phone.
Under cross-examination, Cubitt said he approached the man after McGolderick made him aware.
Cubitt took the man’s name and registration plate but said he did not follow up. Under reexamination, he said he passed the man’s details on to detectives.
Crown witness Detective Aarron Dempsey gave evidence yesterday and said he saw a deceased woman’s naked body on the bed.
She had extensive lacerations to her body and a swollen head, and was laying on her back with her lower legs from her knees hanging over the bed.
The woman had significant abrasions to her torso, legs and right arm and her torso showed patterns similar to shoe impressions.
Dempsey’s evidence in chief was not finished when Justice Nation adjourned for the day.
The trial is expected to continue tomorrow.