Ewen Macdonald's defence has wrapped up its case in the Scott
Guy murder trial at the High Court in Wellington today.
The Crown also wrapped up its case, calling on more than 60
witnesses over 17 days as it attempted to convince 11 jurors that
Macdonald killed Guy by shooting him in the throat with the farm's
shotgun over tensions about the future of the family farm in
Feilding they co-managed.
Macdonald, 32, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his brother-in-law on July 8, 2010 at 4.43am.
Defence lawyer Greg King began his opening address by telling jurors he was calling two witnesses and Macdonald would not be one of them. King has since finished presenting evidence.
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The Defence maintains Macdonald's 40 hour interview with police speaks for itself.
In the police interviews seen earlier in the trial Macdonald repeatedly denied the murder.
"I'm not that...psycho," he told police.
King said during the police interviews Macdonald was truthful
about what happened on the night Guy was killed.
However, he admitted that "to his eternal shame" Macdonald had not told the truth about events like the arson of the old house and vandalism of Scott and Kylee Guy's new home.
Just because Macdonald pleaded guilty to other charges of arson and criminal damage did not mean he was guilty of murder, King told the jury.
His defence says everything he said in those interviews has been corroborated and supported.
"There is not simply reasonable doubt in this case, but there is
an absolute abundance of doubt."
The defence and the Crown are expected to give their closing
statements tomorrow.
Shot twice
The Crown's final witness, firearms expert Kevan Walsh, said the Feilding farmer was most likely shot twice by his murderer, once in the neck and again as he fell to the ground.
He said he reached his conclusions after attending the murdered man's post-mortem.
"In my opinion the most plausible sequence would be that Mr Guy has received a shot to his neck that would almost certainly cause him to drop instantly," the forensic scientist said.
"As he's fallen, in my opinion he's fallen backwards, another shot has been fired during his fall which has struck him in the face and arm."
However, several locals have given evidence that they heard three shots fired in quick succession at the time.
And a champion American marksman appearing for the defence today said that could only be achieved with a semi-automatic shotgun.
Walsh said he believed Guy had not been shot from the roadway.
"The shot to Mr Guy's neck was relatively a short range. The distance where Mr Guy lay was too great from where the pellet pattern was formed."
Walsh said the ammunition found at the murder scene is 'common' ammunition available in New Zealand.
However, Walsh told the court based on his examination his conclusion was he could not exclude the family shotgun as the weapon used to kill Scott Guy.
Robert Ngamoki, a police armourer for more than 30 years, told the jury this morning the Lanbar shotgun kept on the farm was adequately maintained and seemed like a typical farm gun.
Yesterday, Scott Guy's father and his sister Anna, who is also the wife of the accused, told the court about the family's plans to expand its farm business.
Anna told the court she and her husband were worried they were going to be sent away to manage another farm prior to Scott Guy's death.
She said her husband was concerned about what direction the farm was going in because there was not enough room and money for him, Scott, and Scott's father Bryan Guy to all work there.
They had discussed the idea of managing another farm and agreed they did not want to move because Ewen enjoyed working on the family farm, known as Bryeburn. She had told Ewen not to panic or worry.
The defence has also rubbished claims Guy's killer wore dive boots similar to a pair owned by Macdonald.
Distinctive footprints left at the scene of the crime are alleged to be from size nine Proline-brand dive boots worn by Ewen.
However, a Crown witness admitted to the High Court the prints seemed to come from a bigger boot, indicated by the number of ripples on the sole.