Rewa claims secret relationship
Accused testifies in trial for murder of Susan Burdett
On the seventh day of Malcolm Rewa’s third trial he took the stand as a witness to testify in his own defence over the killing of Susan Burdett.
He claims he was in a secret sexual relationship with her, but the prosecutor says Rewa is lying in an effort to explain how his DNA was found at the crime scene.
The 65-year-old serial rapist was convicted of Burdett’s rape in 1998 — but two juries that year were unable to decide whether he was also responsible for her death.
Yesterday he walked past the press bench from the dock with the help of his cane. He was wearing a white, collarless long-sleeved shirt and sporting a new haircut.
He then swore on the the truth.
When his lawyer, Paul Chambers, asked about his rape convictions, Rewa said he felt “terrible shame”.
“I can understand the hurt that I put on these women,” he said.
But Rewa said he believed he was now a changed man.
“I like to believe I am,” he said. Chambers’ questions then became more pointed.
“What about Susan Burdett? Did you rape and kill her?”
Rewa replied: “No I didn’t . . . If I was guilty of it, yes I would [say I did that].” He said it “would be difficult not to, if you were guilty of it”.
to tell
Burdett, a 39-year-old accounts clerk, was killed in her home in Papatoetoe, South Auckland, in 1992.
Her bludgeoned body was found by a friend on Wednesday, March 25 that year.
Rewa, however, said he first met Burdett in 1990 and claimed the pair were in a secret sexual relationship.
He said at the time he was taking cocaine, speed, LSD and occasionally Ecstasy.
Sometimes he took Ecstasy with Burdett, Rewa said.
The weekend before her death, Rewa said Burdett came to his home to ask about some more pills.
The next time Rewa said he saw her was on the Monday the Crown says she was killed.
“I was at home. She just turned up,” he said.
He said the pair split an Ecstasy pill and had sex.
Burdett then went on her way, Rewa said, before he left Auckland to find his wife and only on his return learned his “friend” had been killed.
“All the years I’ve been coming to court for this, you know this is my third trial . . .
“Nobody ever asked me about the friendship we had. All they were worried about was finding someone to blame for the murder.
“She wasn’t just Susan Burdett, she was my friend too.”
But under cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Gareth Kayes referred to the transcript of Rewa’s second trial and said then prosecutor and now High Court judge Simon Moore had asked: “Was it a relationship you valued?”
Kayes then accused Rewa of fabricating a relationship with Burdett.
“Was there a relationship?” the Crown lawyer asked.
Rewa replied: “Yes there was.” “That’s a lie isn’t it Mr Rewa?” Kayes replied sharply.
“You are making it up to explain how your semen got inside Ms Burdett’s dead body,” he later said.
Rewa seemed to grow agitated as Kayes continued.
“You know, you’ve made all of these suggestions,” Rewa said.
“I’ve been tried twice for this pointed to somebody else.
“There are other people involved in this, and all the evidence pointed somewhere else . . .
“I didn’t punch her, I didn’t hurt her, I didn’t rape her and I didn’t do what you are trying to say.”
Kayes alleges Rewa entered Burdett’s home on March 23, 1992, before he raped her, and murdered her with a baseball bat.
The prosecutor said the rapist had climbed through Burdett’s window and surprised her as she was getting ready for bed.
Chambers, however, has accused Burdett’s son, Dallas McKay, of killing his mother.
McKay was once treated as a suspect by police during the investigation into Burdett’s death. He strenuously denied killing her. Rewa has been convicted of raping several women between 1987 and 1996.
Burdett’s killing, Kayes alleged, displayed a “striking resemblance” to Rewa’s other sexual assaults.
The trial continues.
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