A Central Hawke's Bay man who was stabbed three times during a confrontation outside a rural tavern had moments before wielded a gun case like a baseball bat, striking his assailant on the side of his body, a witness told the High Court at Napier today.
Mark Allan McCutcheon was found dead in his utility a few kilometres from the Sandford Tavern at Ongaonga on January 24 last year. He had a stab wound in his back and two in his chest, one of them proving fatal.
Witnesses said he drove away after the confrontation in the carpark but his ute was found next morning in a paddock.
Hulio Henry Ataria, 23, is charged before Justice Alan Mackenzie with Mr McCutcheon's murder.
Giving video-link evidence from the United States on the second day of the trial, shearer Craig James Turfrey said he was drinking outside the tavern with Mr McCutcheon and another man when they heard a disturbance near the front door.
They saw a patched Mongrel Mob member, whose name is suppressed, arguing with his girlfriend who was sitting in a car parked beside the tavern. The accused Ataria, who was a mob "prospect" or potential member, was standing nearby.
Mr Turfrey said the mob member was "laying into his missus, pushing and shoving at her" .
Mr McCutcheon told them to leave the tavern carpark a number of times during a verbal exchange with the mob member and then walked across the road to his ute and took out a gun case.
Mr Turfrey said he heard the mob member telling Ataria to "get him" (McCutcheon) and the accused ran about 20 metres to the ute, where Mr McCutcheon swung the gun case at him "like a baseball bat". He thought Ataria was struck on the arm or side of his body.
There was a brief scuffle before both Mr McCutcheon's friends and the mob member and another man known as Bruiser also went over the road.
The gun case was taken off Mr McCutcheon by Ataria and given to the mob member. It was retrieved by Mr Turfrey who gave it to the tavern owner Patrick Quin for safekeeping. The gun was not removed from the case during the incident.
Mr Turfrey said he did not see Ataria holding anything during the scuffle, apart from the gun case.
In cross-examination by defence counsel Paul Mabey, Mr Turfrey agreed that he had put his hands on Mr McCutcheon's shoulders in a restraining motion during the argument with the mob member outside the tavern. Mr McCutcheon was "fired up" but he did not remember him saying he was going to get a gun.
Mr Turfrey's partner, Malinda (crrct) Anne Reidy, who also gave evidence by video link, was working on the bar at the tavern that night and said she had seen the mob member being asked to leave the bar by the publican.
She went outside after being told her partner was fighting and saw some sort of disagreement going on between Mr McCutcheon and the mob member.
"It looked like Mark McCutcheon was pretty wound up. Craig (Turfrey) had his arm around his shoulders telling him 'it's not worth it'," she said.
During cross-examination she said she didn't consider Mr McCutcheon was "really wound up --- but he was angry".
She walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder, telling him and her partner to come back inside the tavern. She thought they had followed her but they remained outside where the exchange with the mob member continued.
Ms Reidy confirmed Mr McCutcheon had been drunk large bottles of beer and a whisky during the evening.
The trial is continuing.