Constable John Cunningham told the court he went to the Elliott family home in answer to a 111 emergency call from Sophie's mother at 12.30pm on January 9 last year. When he arrived, Lesley Elliott told him her daughter was dead and she and her assailant were upstairs in Sophie's bedroom.
He went upstairs, but the bedroom door was locked so he called for it to be opened or he would kick it in.
The door was then opened and Const Cunningham stepped into the bedroom where he saw Miss Elliott's wounded body on the floor, her neck and upper torso covered in blood.
A male, later identified as Weatherston, was standing near her feet and, when asked, "What have you done?", replied, "I killed her." His tone was calm and normal and he appeared calm, reserved and in control of himself. He was not shaking.
Weatherston was ordered to lie face-down on the floor, which he did willingly, his head positioned close to Miss Elliott's left foot, his own feet which were bare, towards a chest of drawers on the other side of the room. He was handcuffed and cautioned before Const Cunningham asked, "Why did you kill her?"
Weatherston's reply was, "The emotional pain she has caused me over the past year," the officer told the court.
His evidence was given on the 10th day of 33-year-old Weatherston's trial on a charge of murdering Miss Elliott.
The 22-year-old honours student had been in an "on again, off again" relationship with Weatherston, one of her economics teachers, for much of the latter part of 2007. She was packing to go to Wellington and a Treasury job when Weatherston killed her.
He denies murdering Miss Elliott, although admits her manslaughter.
Const Cunningham said he asked Weatherston what he had used in the attack and was told "a knife".
He then asked where it was and Weatherston said "probably underneath her".
After checking Miss Elliott for a pulse, Const Cunningham asked about a pair of scissors on the floor. Weatherston said he also used them "at the end". When asked if he had also used a metal skewer, Weatherston said he had not. The skewer was on the floor outside the door and the officer said he had linked that to the wounds.
Once Weatherston was taken outside, Const Cunningham noticed his arms had blood smears and splatters up to the elbows, his face was blood spattered and there was blood on the back of both legs of his denim shorts. He had two scratches on the left side of his neck.
When he asked Weatherston if it was "all her blood", the accused said "most of it" but "a little" was his.
Detective John McDade escorted Weatherston to the Dunedin Central Police Station. On legal advice, the accused declined to be interviewed on video but consented to a medical examination and the taking of samples for DNA testing.
Det McDade agreed with defence counsel Greg King that Weatherston also authorised the release of his medical files. He said he had been seeing a psychotherapist and was taking a low dose of Prozac.
