Footage of the bloody crime scene where a Dunedin man was found stabbed to death has been played for a jury.
Rajinder, 35, is accused of the murder of 27-year-old Gurjit Singh, who was stabbed at least 46 times and partially decapitated on January 28 last year.
But the defence said there was no motive for such a grievous attack as there was no animosity between the two men, Rajinder having previously employed the victim as a fibre-optic cable installer.
In the High Court at Dunedin this morning, police officers who were first on the scene gave their accounts, and videos, taken on their cell phones, showed the aftermath of the alleged attack.
Detective Don Peat’s footage showed the front of Mr Singh’s Hillary St address, the victim (pixelated) lying on his back on the front lawn.
He told the court there was significant blood around the man’s throat and head area.
A row of armed officers initially tried to enter the house through the back door but found it locked, before making their way to the front of the property.
They made their way up a flight of glass-covered concrete steps; blood was visible on the stairs and handrail.
At the top, beside the front door lay a cell phone and blood-spattered parcel.
Det Peat said a window appeared to have been smashed from the inside and there was blood seen on a curtain which was hanging out.
The video showed officers enter the lounge and what appeared to be blood spots on a red couch.
Det Peat said the obvious area of “disturbance” was in the kitchen/dining room where an ironing board had been knocked over beneath the shattered window.
Officers went from room to room and detected nothing else of obvious note.
In his opening to the jury at the start of the week, Crown prosecutor Robin Bates told jurors forensic scientists had subsequently combed the crime scene.
As well as Mr Singh’s blood, they also found blood matching that of Rajinder, as well as a hair in the victim’s hand which matched the defendant’s DNA.
When the defendant was interviewed by police, he said that was “impossible”.
Rajinder said he had taken his wife for a driving lesson around midnight the night of Mr Singh’s death and a cut on his hand was the result of him removing a bike from his vehicle.
Yesterday, the court heard from the victim’s widow Kamaljeet Kaur who said she had rejected a proposal to marry Rajinder years earlier.
Today, the defendant’s sister Harmeet Kaur said she broke the news to her brother that the woman had married Mr Singh when she saw a post on Instagram.
She said Rajinder was surprised at the news but unconcerned, commenting “the world is so small”.
The defendant eventually married another woman in January 2023 and Harmeet Kaur said they were happy.
She said her brother and his new partner went for long drives, cooked together and watched movies as they set up their life in Dunedin.
“They were enjoying everything together,” Harmeet Kaur said.
The trial continues.
