The jury in the Samuel Moses Samson trial heard from the last Crown witness yesterday in the High Court at Invercargill.
The trial started on March 8 when Samson pleaded not guilty to killing Miss Wilson on November 17, 2019, at the Bavarian Motel, in Invercargill.
During the evidence of Detective Sergeant David Kennelly, who was the officer in charge of the case, the jury heard intercepted phone calls between the defendant and his associates before he was arrested by police.
Another six calls between Samson and other associates when he was in jail were also presented to the jury so they could listen to what was mentioned during them.
In a conversation with one of his friends, the man joked with him that he was "living the dream".
"Oh f... living the dream bro, living the dream, f... I’ll be living the dream for the next f... 30 years brothers (laughing)."
The conversation continued with Samson saying he was feeling good and later on apologising for "all that s... you had to see all over the media".
The man replied saying Samson did not need to apologise because he still loved him.
"Pretty f... messy bro but um, yeah, what can I say. I can’t rewind time," Samson said.
In a conversation with his sister, Santana Watkins, Samson said he was missing the late Miss Wilson and showed concern about the wellbeing of his children.
"The issues that I have are, can’t be healed by medication," Samson said.
"I just, yeah, I just miss Azalia so much ... I haven’t even grieved for her."
Under cross-examination, defence counsel Judith Ablett-Kerr QC asked Det Sgt Kennelly about police efforts to get the telephone or the record of a video call between Samson and a witness, who had name suppression.
She said this was a "very important piece of evidence" as witnesses who called 111 said they had seen a video of someone being seriously assaulted.
"It was a priority of the inquiry, ma’am," Det Sgt Kenelly said.
Ms Ablett-Kerr then queried why police did not seize the phone of the witness.
An assessment was made and as it was a "very reluctant and a challenging witness", police decided to not push him much in order to have him at court giving evidence and being cross-examined, he said.
In the meantime, police were still trying to get the information through the agreement of mutual assistance between the United States and New Zealand.
Ms Ablett-Kerr challenged why police did not got CCTV camera footage from the taxi and from the Night ’N Day shop in Dee St as the driver had told the court he picked up Samson in that location early on November 17 and took him to the Bavarian Motel.
Det Sgt Kennelly said police were not able to retrieve it as the taxi company kept the records only for seven days and the store had closed.
After the evidence, the Crown ended its case.
The defence team has decided to not call any evidence.
The trial, before Justice Gerald Nation, continues on Monday when both parties are expected to make closing statements.
