A shopping trip, an early-hours journey, followed by a mid-morning trip to Green Island was detailed by the prosecution yesterday in the murder trial of a Dunedin man.
The police showed 41 CCTV clips to the jury in the High Court at Dunedin yesterday, evidence around the killing of 27-year-old Gurjit Singh in January last year.
The accused Rajinder, 35, has pleaded not guilty to the murder.
He is accused of inflicting at least 46 stab wounds to the victim at his Hillary St home late on January 28, 2024.
Detective Constable Jack Stickings described what CCTV implied about Rajinder’s movements.
He said the accused drove a white Toyota Prius, which had two identifying stickers associated with passenger transport.
The footage showed the defendant arriving at Pak’nSave supermarket at 3.04pm on January 28. He wore a maroon T-shirt, grey pants and a turban.
At the checkout, his hands had bracelets on each wrist and no bandages.
He left the supermarket at 3.22pm and went to Bunnings Warehouse where he bought a pair of gloves.
At 3.46pm, he entered Hunting & Fishing in Crawford St where he bought a packaged knife and a neck gaiter.
He then went to Torpedo 7 at 4.12pm and tried out at least three different mountainbikes before buying one, leaving at 4.36pm.
There was also footage of the Prius being driven in the Leith St-Cumberland St area and a trip to BP Cumberland St where Rajinder and his wife browsed sunglasses.
At 6.58pm, the couple went to The Warehouse where he bought two hi-vis jackets, a bike lock and a bike helmet. His hand appeared uninjured in the footage.
The court earlier heard the victim attended a pizza party at a friend’s Helensburgh address that evening and residential footage showed him travelling back to his Liberton home at 10.28pm.
Det Const Stickings said CCTV showed a white vehicle similar to Rajinder’s Prius driving out of Helensburgh Rd and into Taieri Rd, heading for Three Mile Hill at 12.04am on January 29.
The vehicle travelled along Gordon Rd and then headed south on State Highway 1 through East Taieri at 12.28am.
At 1.30am, the Prius is seen travelling towards Mosgiel on SH1, turning into Hagart-Alexander Dr.
Det Const Stickings said the passenger was wearing bright red clothing in the car. He identified a sticker on the car as in the same position as the one on Rajinder’s Prius.
The next day, at 9.40am, Rajinder and his wife were seen in a Chorus van driving in Kaikorai Valley Rd to Green Island.
They went to a supermarket, petrol station and the Downer’s yard off Main South Rd.
Rajinder had a black bandage on his left hand when at the petrol station.
At 10.12am that day, Rajinder took the Prius to Top 1 Motors in Kaikorai Valley to get it groomed and cleaned — his left hand was covered with a white bandage.
Det Const Stickings said the route from Helensburgh Rd in Waikari to Hillary Rd in Liberton was direct and had CCTV coverage.
There were multiple other indirect routes which would avoid cameras, he said.
Co-defence counsel Katy Barker said Rajinder was just a normal shopper on January 28 and was in no way trying to hide his identity.
He used credit and debit cards to pay for things and did not pay cash for anything.
The trial continues.
