Gruesome evidence at murder trial | New Zealand

Gruesome evidence at murder trial

The star witness in the Tony Stanlake murder trial has given evidence against his best friend, saying Daniel Moore confessed to him how he killed his drug-dealing partner.
In court, Moore couldn't look at his former friend turned court-room foe. But every other eye was on Peter Leach as the former butcher told how Moore admitted killing Stanlake in his garage. "He told me he had let Tony go first then had gone in behind him. He hit him in the back of the head with a mallet, a hammer, had then cut his throat.	Accused - Daniel Moore
Then he put a black rubbish bag over his head...in order to stop so much blood coming out," Leach told the court.

Leach said he and family members had received death threats, telling him not to testify against the man he said he loved like a brother.

Leach had to be prompted several times by the Crown prosecutor to continue his evidence and glanced constantly at his supporters in the public gallery.

The Crown says Moore killed Stanlake - who he called the boss - for control of their cannabis operation in July 2006. Stanlake's handless corpse was found washed up at Wellington's Owhiro Bay.

"He'd asked me how easy it would be to sever someone's hands from their body," Leach said.

Leach said Moore had previously talked about killing Stanlake and his suspicions were aroused when he found blood in their Miramar home.

But in cross-examination Moore's lawyer Greg King said Stanlake's blood was found on a pair of Leach's slippers - a claim Leach couldn't explain.

http://tvnz.co.nz

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