Witness tells court of gruesome discovery

A dairy farmer has described finding his badly bashed co-worker dead in his bed after he uncharacteristically failed to show up for milking.

Tony Grant Waldron, 29, was discovered dead at his Gardiners Rd, Rakaia farmhouse, south of Christchurch, on September 18, 2019.

Waldron’s estranged wife Alana Jane Bamber, 35, and her cousin, Joshua Dylan Morris-Bamber, 28, deny murdering Waldron and are on trial in the High Court at Christchurch.

The second-in-charge at Waldron’s dairy farm gave evidence yesterday.

Tysen Guthrie said when Waldron was a no-show at 5.30am milking, he tried phoning him, and later went to his property — about 8.30am.

On arrival, he found the door wide open and the lights on.

He found Waldron propped up in bed.

“I could tell immediately that he was dead,” Guthrie told the court. He described Waldron as swollen and bruised around his head and neck.

Waldron had gone to bed the night before about 12.56am after playing an online video game.

The Crown says Bamber encouraged her cousin Morris-Bamber to seriously assault Waldron, whom she claimed had been having an affair with her bridesmaid.

It’s alleged Morris-Bamber drove to Waldron’s farm, with cellphone data and CCTV from Transport Agency cameras plotting his movements.

With driving time, the Crown says Morris-Bamber had “at least four minutes” at Waldron’s house, which they say was “ample time” to go inside and fatally assault him.

A post-mortem examination suggested Waldron was struck by a solid weapon at least three times on the side of his head, ear and neck.

He suffered a fractured skull, along with other multiple cracks and a broken jaw.

Morris-Bamber left at speed, the Crown claims, stopping briefly to hide “forensically important items” like the murder weapon and bloodied clothing that he would later allegedly move again. They would never be found, the court heard.

Defence counsel, Anne Stevens KC, said the alleged four-minute window for the killing was “simply not credible”. The trial, before Justice Gerald Nation, continues.