‘She was too beautiful to touch’
Mother of three Kim Richmond was found in the rear seat of her silver Ford Ranger with a plastic bag over her head and torso, a court heard.
That was the evidence given by Detective Constable James Walker, in Richmond’s murder trial in the High Court at Hamilton yesterday.
Richmond’s partner of 26 years, Cory Jefferies, stood in the dock accused of her murder.
Walker was part of the police team that recovered Richmond’s body from the ute in Lake Arapuni in June 2017, nearly a year after she disappeared.
Police tracked data from Jefferies cellphone the night Richmond disappeared. The GPS pinged at two separate spots on Te Ana Road, near the couple’s home and near the boat ramp at Lake Arapuni.
It showed Jefferies travelled at a driving pace toward the boat ramp. His trip home to Mangare Road was at a slower pace, possibly a running or walking pace, Walker said.
However, there was no GPS information available at the boat ramp itself as there was little to no cellphone coverage in that area.
Earlier yesterday the court heard that Jefferies told a detective that his wife was ‘‘too beautiful to touch’’
The video interview with Jefferies and Detective Constable Janine Post was played during his trial.
Jefferies denied the murder charge but accepted he was responsible for Richmond’s death.
In the video, Jefferies gave his account of the night his partner of 26 years disappeared on July 31, 2016.
Post asked Jefferies if he had ever hurt Richmond.
To which he replied: ‘‘She was too beautiful to touch.
‘‘I’m not that sort of person, I don’t go around beating people up.’’
On the day of Richmond’s disappearance, Jefferies sent a text to his partner at 1.22pm that read, ‘‘When are you back?’’
There was also a text to Richmond’s phone from their daughter that said, ‘‘ Hi it’s [..] where are you because I need you home here’’.
Jefferies told Post the last time he saw Richmond, she drove her silver Ford Ranger down the driveway of their Arohena home, turned left on to Mangare Rd and vanished.
The pair were at the Arohena hall in the South Waikato backblocks earlier that night, watching a rugby game with friends and having a potluck dinner, the court heard. He and Richmond spent the night watching rugby, socialising and drinking Steinlager. Jefferies also drank bourbon.
Jefferies said he couldn’t remember what time they left the hall but said the drive home in the Ford Ranger was uneventful, apart from an argument about music. The rock band The Feelers was playing on a CD and Jefferies switched it to a radio station. They argued about the music. When they arrived home, Jefferies – who was driving – took the keys from the ignition and left Richmond in the front passenger seat of the ute.
He hung the keys on a hook in the pantry, he told Post in the video, and then went to the toilet in the ensuite.
Jefferies then said he heard Richmond leave in the ute.
Post said police heard from at least two people, that Jefferies had threatened to kill Richmond.
‘‘I don’t think so, no. That’s not true,’’ Jefferies said in the video.
However, on Tuesday, Jefferies’ lawyer Thomas Sutcliffe told the court that his client accepts responsibility for Richmond’s death.
‘‘Mr Jefferies accepts that the relationship had been going through some difficult times. On the seven minute drive home, something happened between them resulting in the death of Kim Richmond.
When asked what he had told their three children about their mum, Jefferies said, ‘‘We’ve got everyone looking for mum . . . they know mum’s missing.’’
Forensic pathologist Dr Rexson Tse told the court he was not able to identify Richmond’s cause of death.
He recorded the official cause as undetermined.
‘‘The body that was presented to me had been in the water for a lot of time,’’ Tse said.
‘‘Decomposition changes specific to immersion, limits how I examine the body.’’
Tse said he was not able to rule out specific causes of death, but he was also not able to confirm any.
The inevitable conclusion, Crown prosecutor Ross Douch said on Tuesday, was that Richmond ended up in Lake Arapuni in the back seat of their silver Ford Ranger utility.
And that Jefferies walked home.
During the police investigation, information from Richmond’s Fitbit device recorded an elevated heart beat on the morning of July 31.
Her last heartbeat was recorded at 3.43am, Douch said.
The Crown and the defence were expected to give their closing statements today.