Crown accuses man of leaving his partner to 'rot' in lake while lying to their children about where she was

The crown says the way Kim Richmond was left to “rot” among other reasons points to murder as it closed its case against Cory Scott Jefferies in the High Court in Hamilton.

Crown prosecutor, Ross Douch, told the jury a relationship breakdown with Ms Richmond clearly troubled Jefferies in the form of confrontations, emotional outbursts and “threats”.

The Crown says Jefferies had made threats to kill Mr Richmond to Alfons Te Brake and his wife, who both gave evidence in court.

Richmond disappeared in July 2016, after a night of drinking and watching rugby at the Arohena Hall in south Waikato.

In a police interview, Jefferies says the pair argued on the way home that night and he left Ms Richmond in their Ford Ranger.

A short time later he said she must have taken the keys and driven away.

Her body was pulled from Lake Arapuni nearly a year later.

A Fitbit and cell phone data showed the vehicle had travelled to the lake, but showed Jefferies had walked back to the couple’s home.  

The Crown says Richmond’s body was badly decomposed, with her chest exposed and her shirt pulled up over her head.

A pathologist couldn’t determine a cause of death

The Crown says her partner was responsible for “leaving her to rot”, while lying to his children about where their mother was.

Defence: Actions of a “desperate man”

Defence lawyer Thomas Sutcliffe says his client admits killing his partner of 26 years, but that he’s guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

The Crown has fallen "well short" of proving murder.

He says the Crown suggesting he had motive to do it because of a relationship breakdown and the events of that night is pure speculation.

Mr Sutcliffe says nothing that happened on the night at Arohena Hall “tells you anything about what was occurring”.

He says whatever happened that night was “clearly unscripted”, what he called a “spontaneous” event with terrible consequences.

In closing, Mr Sutcliffe told the jury regardless of the outcome, the effects are immense.

He says his client’s “rouse” was not well thought out, but Jefferies actions were one of “desperate man”.

The judge will summarise the case tomorrow before the jury considers its verdict.