A teenage soldier said curiosity drove him to try to stab his
sleeping roommate to death in their bunkroom at the Tekapo
Military Camp.
The former soldier, now aged 19, today pleaded guilty in the
High Court at Christchurch to charges of attempted murder and
burglary for the incident on June 26, last year.
Logan Wiki Hodgson stabbed his roommate several times as he
lay sleeping.
When he was asked by the police why he would want to kill
someone he had described as a friend, he replied he felt that
if he could kill a friend he could kill anyone.
At a later interview he was asked what had led him to the
point where he wanted to kill a friend. He replied, "One word
… curiosity."
Justice Graham Panckhurst remanded Hodgson in custody for
sentence in the High Court at Timaru on December 16. He
called for a pre-sentence report.
Hodgson said, "Thank you, Sir," as he was taken back into the
cells.
The police said the victim was aged 19, and Hodgson was aged
17 at the time of the incident during a military exercise at
Tekapo. The night of the stabbing, the pair lay down on their
bunks, talked briefly, and then the victim dozed off. Hodgson
got up at midnight and went outside for a while, listening to
music on his MP4 player.
After an hour, he returned to the bunkroom, took out a pocket
knife and opened the blade. He stood with the knife in his
hand, watching the victim sleep.
He then tried to stab him in the throat, to sever his vocal
cords and stop him crying out. He hesitated as he was about
to stab and the victim stirred and rolled over.
Instead of the throat, the blow hit the victim in the face
near his eye. There was a second stab to the face as the
victim woke up and protected himself with his arms. Hodgson
stabbed him in the forearms and hands as he tried to get at
his throat.
The victim began calling out and Hodgson ran off, leaving the
camp and heading towards Twizel.
A medic in the next room heard the victim's cries and found
him lying covered in blood.
Hodgson broke into a rabbiters' bach at a station along State
Highway 8, where he stole civilian clothing, a sleeping bag,
towel, biscuits, and a bottle of lemonade. He moved on and
slept on the ground in a stand of trees.
