The credibility of a key witness in the Angela Blackmoore murder trial has been called into question as the Crown prosecutor delivered their closing arguments today.
The Christchurch mother was stabbed 39 times in her home in Wainoni in 1995 while her 2-year-old son slept in a nearby room.
For weeks, David Hawken and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum have been on trial in the High Court charged with the 21-year-old's murder.
Hawken and Wright-Meldrum have pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Blackmoore.
A third person, Jeremy Powell, was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 10 years after pleading guilty to her murder in 2020.
During the prosecutions closing arguments today, Crown prosecutor Pip Currie said in court that there is "overwhelming evidence of proving the respective guilt of each of these defendants".
However, the pair's defence told the jury to think carefully.
"There are whole series of red flags for you about the Crown case," Hawken's defence counsel, Anne Stevens KC, said.
Powell, a key Crown witness, confessed to stabbing Blackmoore with his former girlfriend, Wright-Meldrum, after being offered $10,000 by Hawken.
"He has never, since confessing, sought to downplay his part. He's admitting to the actual killing — he is not trying to escape any blame or culpability by naming the other two," Currie said.
But the defence argued that the pair had nothing to do with the murder, saying they had no motive or anything to gain in killing the mother of one.
Stevens also argued that Powell was a liar.
"He lied for 24 years. Even when someone came along and asked him 24 years later, he lied," she said.
"The Crown kept trying to say he confessed in 2019. He did not confess — he was pushed into it."
Stevens argued that Powell sought to reduce his blame and paint himself as the victim.
"To reduce their blame, to present themselves as a victim and reduce the shame for their family — these are strong incentives," she said.
"They are human incentives that are really powerful. Less shame, more blame."
Currie replied that while Powell had "lied initially" when he was first spoken to by police in 1995, he admitted his involvement during his second interview with police.
"The second time he spoken to the police, 24 years later, he admits his involvement and explains how this happened and who he did it with," she said.
The defence will present its closing arguments tomorrow before the jury considers their verdict.
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