‘No one’s gonna miss him’
Teen killer sought to rope in friend before bludgeoning Oliver Johnston as he slept
Ateenager bludgeoned a mate to death after earlier suggesting to others, “Shall we kill Oliver?” Heath Eric Morris, 19, yesterday admitted murdering 20-year-old Oliver Johnston, aka Oliver Greene on June 24 last year at Morris’ family’s Woodend Beach lifestyle block, 20km north of Christchurch.
Morris brutally bashed Johnston to death while he slept after the pair had partied and played Xbox together.
Morris made a surprise guilty plea at the High Court in Christchurch yesterday. He was remanded in custody for sentencing on April 12.
The court heard that Morris and Johnston met at a fast-food restaurant in Christchurch in early June.
They began socialising and on Saturday, June 23, they’d arranged to meet at a party in a paddock near a forest in Webbs Rd, Amberley, organised by some local teens on Facebook.
The pair travelled to the party independently and arrived about 7pm.
Between 7pm and 1am, Morris drank up to 12 bourbon and cola drinks, the summary of facts says.
Later, Morris and a mate got into a fight with other partygoers. Morris, Johnston, and one other were driven back to Morris’ house at Jelfs Rd, Woodend Beach, arriving about 1am.
During the short drive, Morris said to his associate seated beside him: “Shall we kill Oliver?”
According to the summary, he added, “Bro, no one’s gonna miss him”.
He repeated the comment about five times during the journey.
They went into a small sleep-out 15m from the Morris family home.
Morris and Johnston played on the Xbox while their associate went to sleep on a mattress nearby.
At some point in the night, Johnston removed his shoes, got into a sleeping bag and had fallen asleep on a mattress.
Morris grabbed a “striking implement with a 30mm round-shaped end and struck the victim multiple times to the left side of his head and face”.
“The force of these blows was sufficient to break the victim’s skull in multiple locations and break his jaw and cheekbone too,” the court heard.
The injuries were “unsurvivable”. Morris dragged Johnston’s body down a concrete path, over a gravel driveway, and through a gap in the fence into a small paddock.
Morris then concealed Johnston with soil from an adjacent paddock and some long grass.
He then went back to the sleep-out and began cleaning the floor and mattresses.
While he was hiding his tracks, the associate woke up and saw a large amount of blood on the mattress next to where he was sleeping.
When he asked what happened, Morris replied that he had “cracked Oli in the lip” and that a friend from Christchurch had come and picked him up.
Johnston suffered a broken skull, cheekbone, and upper jaw on the left side of his head, as well as a fracture from his eye to ear.
When spoken to police, Morris said: “I haven’t done anything.”