Cadaver dog fails to detect body

A cadaver dog searching for Dale Tama Watene missed his body despite searching the area in which he was buried, a court has been told.

Sandy Maree Graham, 32, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Watene, 40, at Otautau on April 16, 2020. George Ivor Hyde, 24, has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Watene, at Otautau between April 16 and 27, 2020.

The Crown contends Graham shot Watene and organised Hyde to hide the body and evidence.

But Graham’s defence told the jury the focus would be on what happened in a brief moment during a domestic struggle, which was a tragic accident.

Watene was found in Longwood Forest on May 18, 2020.

In court yesterday, detectives were called as Crown witnesses.

Detective Dougall Henderson was involved in the search for Watene’s body. He and another detective searched areas of the Longwood Forest, and found an area at the end of an overgrown four-wheel-drive track that was of interest because bricks had been dumped, and the soil appeared to have been disturbed.

At a briefing later, an officer who had been at the search of Hyde’s Tuatapere house said a chimney had been pulled down at the house, Henderson said.

That led to Henderson getting a police dog to search the area because of the bricks, he said. However, the dog found nothing.

When police returned to the area with the bricks and began excavating, they uncovered a foot under about 30 centimetres of soil, Henderson said.

Watene’s toes on his right foot were amputated after an accident a number of years earlier, which Henderson was aware of, and upon finding the foot he believed it was Watene’s body.

It was taken to Christchurch for forensic pathology. Detective Matthew Wyatt was officer in charge of the body and was called as a Crown witness yesterday.

A .22 lead projectile was removed from Watene’s spine during the post-mortem examination, Wyatt said.

Graham’s lawyer, Philip Shamy, questioned whether dirt around Watene’s head had been washed during the examination, which Wyatt said was correct.

Shamy asked if the mortuary hose had a spray fitting. From Wyatt’s memory it did.

Under re-examination, prosecutor Mary-Jane Thomas asked Wyatt if the inside of Watene’s mouth was washed during the post-mortem examination.

That was a question for the pathologist, Wyatt said.

The jury trial started in the High Court at Invercargill on June 13 and is presided over by Justice Gerald Nation.

The trial is expected to take four weeks.