The former girlfriend of Daniel Ethan Smith broke down in tears in the Timaru High Court yesterday as she read out a series of text messages between the pair sent before and after he allegedly fatally stabbed a 16-year-old boy in Oamaru.
Smith, now 20, is being retried on a charge of murdering William Peter Lewis, who was stabbed in the back three times during an altercation in Exe St on April 1, 2010.
Appearing before Justice Rachel Dunningham and a jury of six men and six women, Smith has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, arguing self-defence.
Yesterday, a 10-minute adjournment was taken after Ashley Collins, the accused's girlfriend at the time, struggled to read a conversation of text messages, in which Smith asked her permission to fight William on the night of April 1, 2010.
The conversation had started when Smith told her he had an argument with his father that day.
In the messages, Smith went on to tell Miss Collins he had been chased and ''cheap-shotted'', but that he did not fight because she would not have wanted him to do that, nor did he want to. He later asked if he could.
The now 19-year-old woman read her reply: ''OK, but don't get hurt please''.
Following William's death, the accused texted her to say he was fine, but he had ''hurt someone''.
''I'm scared, I'm so sorry,'' he wrote, later saying William had died.
She told him not to ''freak out'' and wrote that she blamed herself and apologised.
''I said you could fight. If I'd said no, this wouldn't have happened,'' she read in court.
He replied: ''Baby please don't blame yourself ... that makes me feel worse.''
She told him she would stick by him if he went to jail and that she loved him, but he was ''better than that; what were you thinking?''
The defence had no questions for Ms Collins, after she read out more than 190 texts to the jury.
Nicholas Withers, a Waitaki Girls' High School teacher, told the court he was walking in Thames St with four workmates on the night of April 1, 2010, when he heard ''bizarre'' yelling and ran to help.
Turning the corner to Exe St, he saw ''a shirtless person lying on his front with a heck of a lot of blood on his back'' and ''maybe a litre'' of blood pooled in the gutter.
Mr Withers said he dialled 111 at 9.45pm.
The 111 operator asked him to perform CPR, which he did, with the help of another witness, Kellie Paisley.
Mr Withers said initially he ''felt a very weak pulse and thought the guy was still alive''.
William's ex-girlfriend, Alexis Smith, told the court she was not aware of any animosity between her ex-boyfriend and the accused, but was aware of the rumour she had slept with the accused.
Adam Caldwell told the court he met the accused for the first time on April 1 when he sold Smith and an associate a $50 bag of cannabis.
Later that night, he was playing video games when Smith knocked at the door. Smith was ''distraught, stressed out'', asking Mr Withers to hide him.
''[Smith was] saying things like 'help me, help me; people are chasing me','' he said.
Smith told Mr Withers he had ''just got jumped'' and ''he'd stabbed someone''.
Smith was standing at the door in socks. Mr Withers did not let him inside and pushed him out the door.
Detective Warren Duncan, of Oamaru, told the court that when he visited the accused's Foyle St home after William's death, Smith denied any knowledge of an altercation.
''He said he had been home all night, hadn't gone out and wasn't involved in any altercation,'' Det Duncan said.
The trial continues today. It is expected to conclude next week.
