Inside 'Wild West' neighbour war that ended in fire and death

Long before a man was shot dead on the deck at his home in a remote rural settlement, his relationship with his neighbour had fractured into threats and violence.

By Tara Shaskey for Open Justice

The victim, Sidney Ross Bridson, had assaulted his neighbour, Mathew David Hannon, with a pitchfork and a bottle, and made drunken threats to kill him.

Hannon was paranoid and had become increasingly upset by Bridson’s actions.

Those were the recollections of Waitaanga locals, who gave evidence today in the trial of Stefan Hannon-McGinn, 28, and Ethan Howe, 27.

The best friends are accused of murdering Bridson, who was terminally ill with cancer at the time, after his ongoing conflict with Hannon, the father of Hannon-McGinn.

Howe is also defending a charge of arson, which Hannon-McGinn pleaded guilty to at the outset of the trial in the High Court at New Plymouth.

Jurors have heard that Hannon-McGinn accepted he shot Bridson, causing his death, but that he claimed it was self-defence. Howe has admitted he was present but not criminally responsible.

Hannon-McGinn used his father’s 20-gauge shotgun to fire the fatal shot, while Howe allegedly covered his back with a hunting rifle.

After the single blow to Bridson’s stomach, his body was dragged inside his property, which was then set alight.

Around 7.30am on October 11, 2023, Fire and Emergency NZ were called to his house along Waitaanga Rd, east of Taranaki.

The home was extensively damaged, and Bridson’s body was later discovered in the charred ruins.

The death of the father of four followed lingering hostility with Hannon over several issues, including hunting activity on the surrounding land.

Matters continued to boil between the men, whose properties were separated by a small valley, until, the Crown alleged, Hannon phoned his son, upset.

Hannon-McGinn travelled from Hamilton with Howe and “sorted it out”, the Crown claimed.

Yesterday, Tania Petley, who has owned property in the area for more than two decades, said the small community, described by some as the “Wild West”, could be “a bit Days of Our Lives-y”.

There was beef between some, but mostly everyone got along, she said.

That included Hannon and Bridson at times, with Petley recalling them having “sessions” of marijuana together.

But she said drama between them ensued when Hannon began complaining about Bridson’s friends coming on to the land to hunt.

Hannon told her people were poaching, and he was worried someone was going to get shot.

He had spoken to Bridson about it, Petley said, but he wrote it off as Hannon “grizzling”, and labelled it “a nothing thing”.

Matters escalated in August 2023 when Bridson and Hannon had a physical altercation.

Bridson hit Hannon over the head with a bottle and threw a pitchfork, or something of the like, at him.

Petley said that after the incident, Hannon was upset, saying Bridson had “nutted out” and that he would not be going back to his house.

She felt Bridson’s actions were over the top, and she had “growled” at him for the “unnecessary” violence.

It was not the only time she’d had words with Bridson.

Petley said she was “always growling him” when he had been drinking, which was often.

“It was annoying when he drank.”

She said Bridson became “mouthy” and she would argue with him about nothing.

When cross-examined by Hannon-McGinn’s lawyer, Nicola Manning, Petley was pushed on Bridson’s behaviour when he drank.

She accepted he could “get nasty” and verbally abusive, but said that the next day he would have his “tail between his legs”.

“I loved him,” she said, adding she accepted him the way he was.

Petley also shared she had caught Bridson talking to himself about Hannon when he was drunk, saying he had “a bug up his a**” about his neighbour.

Another witness, James Browne, told the court that Bridson and Hannon argued “all the time”.

Browne, the son of Russell Zehnder, who owned the Waitaanga home Bridson lived in, often felt he was the adult sorting out two children.

He recalled telling the pair to stay away from one another.

Browne’s evidence about Bridson’s drinking habits was similar to Petley’s, describing him as getting “black-out drunk” and becoming “beligierent”.

While he did not recall Bridson being violent during these times, he said Bridson had made threats to kill Hannon.

But Browne waved it off as drunk talk, putting it down to Bridson saying “the darndest” things when he was on the wines.

“He once argued asbestos was fine.”

Browne also gave evidence about Hannon not being a fan of hunting and did not like hunters coming on to the land.

He recalled that Hannon owned a hunting rifle and a shotgun.

Browne said Hannon was inherently paranoid and had decked his house out with security cameras.

While Browne also said Bridson smoked methamphetamine when it was available to him, Petley said he kept a dismantled firearm in his laundry.

The trial before Justice Helen McQueen is set down for four weeks.