The jury deciding the fate of two people charged with a notorious Christchurch murder has been told to focus on the forensic evidence, rather than the testimony of a convicted killer.
Angela Blackmoore was pregnant and had a two-year-old son sleeping in a nearby room when she was bludgeoned and stabbed 39 times inside her Wainoni home in 1995.
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 both pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Blackmoore. In his closing address, Wright-Meldrum's lawyer Philip Shamy said the most important evidence in this trial is what is often known as the "silent evidence".
"The Crown paid little attention to it, probably for good reason, as it doesn't support their case against Miss Wright-Meldrum," he said.
"She's a stripper, she's not a forensic scientist, she's just taken part in the butchering of her friend and she's savvy enough to wipe fingerprints but only her own."
Jeremy Powell has been a key witness in this trial after he confessed to his part in the murder in 2019.
He accused his then-girlfriend, Wright-Meldrum, of convincing the "paranoid" Blackmoore to let them in. Powell also claims Wright-Meldrum helped clean up.
Shamy reminded the jury that forensic scientists have given evidence to show no attempt had been made to clean up the scene.
"There's only one set of footprints. If you are that close to a source of blood, that you're cleaning it up, [then] how, if she was there, does Miss Wright Meldrum avoid stepping in it," questioned Shamy to the jury, who suggested Powell was lying.
Powell also said he carried out the killing after being offered $10,000 by Hawken. The alleged motive was to free up a property deal.
Justice Rachel Dunningham will sum up the case on Wednesday before the jury retires to consider its verdict.
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