By Tara Shaskey of
In the third week of the trial, which is being held in the High Court at New Plymouth, closing statements were heard on Wednesday before Justice Francis Cooke. Photo: RNZ / Patrice Allen
DNA from a teen found around the stab holes in the sleeping bag Adrian Humphreys was in when he was repeatedly stabbed, blood on the boy's jersey and a confession made to a relative revealing he had "killed someone" proves he murdered the camper.
At least, that was what Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke told the jury in her closing statement at the trial of the accused, Justice Williamson-Atkinson.
But the teen's lawyer, Nicola Graham, maintained her client was not responsible for Humphreys' death.
She said the Crown case was inconsistent with the teen being the stabber and it had failed to prove he was guilty.
In the third week of the trial, which is being held in the High Court at New Plymouth, closing statements were heard on Wednesday before Justice Francis Cooke, 12 jurors and a public gallery comprising a couple of the teen's whānau and a large number of family and friends of Humphreys, including his sister, Taresa Keatley, who has travelled from the United Kingdom to attend.
The 17-year-old defendant, who has been supported by a communication assistant for the duration of the trial, moulded objects out of Blu-Tack and doodled on a Post-it note as he listened to the statements - one claiming he was a killer, and the other professing his innocence.
He has been accused of murdering Humphreys at Bushlands Campground in Tāngarākau, eastern Taranaki, overnight on 6 May, 2022.
The Crown claim Williamson-Atkinson, who was staying at the remote camp with Start Taranaki, a programme for troubled youths, took a knife from the communal kitchen and snuck into the 57-year-old's camper to steal the keys to his car.
Humphreys, who was originally from the United Kingdom but lived in Rotorua at the time of his death, suffered blunt force trauma to his face and was stabbed five times in the torso.
It is alleged the teen, from Hastings, committed the violent acts during the burglary.
Clarke said in her closing that Humphreys, a former Royal Air Force serviceman, was asleep when Williamson-Atkinson allegedly entered his camper, so he did not have a chance to defend himself.
"Four of those overhand, right-handed stabs with the knife were with such force that they cut through the sleeping bag, the T-shirt and into Humphreys' body and arteries.
"Two of those stab wounds were with such force that they went through Humphreys' ribs.
"Such significant force used by the wielder of that knife [means his attacker] could only have intended really serious bodily injury."
Clarke claimed the fact Williamson-Atkinson was responsible for those stab wounds had been proved beyond reasonable doubt through scientific evidence alone.
Samples were taken from around the stab holes in the sleeping bag and returned the teen's DNA.
Clarke pointed to evidence that showed the DNA would have been transferred through "forceful contact" with the sleeping bag.
Further DNA evidence showed Humphreys' blood on the sleeve of Williamson-Atkinson's jersey, which he was seen wearing on the evening Humphreys was killed.
"Humphreys' blood, the Crown says, was transferred on to that sleeve of the sweatshirt when Justice was wielding that knife."
Clarke said there was further evidence that proved the teen was responsible, including his alleged confession to a relative.
That relative testified Williamson-Atkinson had told him he had "mucked up" and he thought he had "killed someone".
Clarke said the relative had proven to be a reliable and honest witness.
She also pointed to a phone call intercepted by police which recorded Williamson-Atkinson telling his girlfriend, "You know how I told [his relative] ... mum knows".
He told his girlfriend, "Mum just wants me to stick to my same story - that I was in the bush and I don't know anything."
Clarke claimed the phone conversation showed he had also confessed to his girlfriend, who told police she knew "nothing".
Police had conducted a thorough investigation, Clarke said, and now the jury needed to apply "a good bit of old-fashioned common sense".
She implored them to focus on the "reliable evidence" and not what hadn't been tested.
While the teen Williamson-Atkinson claimed killed Humphreys could have been involved in the plan to steal a car and leave the campground, Clarke said there was no forensic evidence that linked that teen to the stabbing.
The only evidence of that "comes from Justice's mouth", she said, reminding the jury he had admitted to telling lies throughout the investigation.
In the defence's closing statement, Graham said Humphreys' death was a tragedy, but the trial was not a process to be used to hold someone accountable for it at all costs.
It was rather about whether the Crown could prove Williamson-Atkinson was guilty of murder, and Graham said it had failed to do so.
She said science could not reveal how the teen's DNA came to be on the sleeping bag and suggested cross-contamination could be a possibility.
The swabs were not taken until the bag was in the laboratory, by which time Graham said it had been laid out, unzipped, opened, rolled up, transported and unpacked.
She said the blood found on Williamson-Atkinson's jersey was not a "splatter pattern" and claimed it was more consistent with having been transferred when he came into contact with a "heavy source" of blood after the stabbing.
He told police he had gone into the camper after the other teen stabbed Humphreys and took the knife away for him.
Graham was critical of items from the scene that went untested, such as a strand of hair found in Humphreys' camper "when he was bald", and swabs taken from the external zippers to the camper.
"Don't you think it might be kind of important to see who opened them to gain entry?"
The relative who heard the alleged confession had admitted he could have misunderstood what he was told, Graham said, before pointing out Williamson-Atkinson had cooperated with police in providing a DNA sample and statements.
This was a far cry from the teen the defence claims actually killed Humphreys, who refused to give either.
Justice Cooke will sum up the case tomorrow morning, and then the jury will begin its deliberations.
- This story was first published by the New Zealand Herald
