Surveillance footage of the Bavarian Motel and the whereabouts of two cars allegedly connected to the man accused of murdering Azalia Wilson were shown to the jury yesterday.
A video of a man, who appeared to be Samuel Moses Samson, wearing a blue collar shirt, jeans and Converse black boots, entering and leaving an Invercargill nightclub was also shown to the court.
Samson has been on trial in the High Court at Invercargill since March 8, after pleading not guilty to murdering Miss Wilson at the Bavarian Motel on November 17, 2019.
The CCTV images were part of evidence from Constable Nicky Herbert, who told the jury he was tasked with analysing footage obtained in relation to the case.
It included still images and videos from Tillermans — a nightclub where Samson had been, the Bavarian Motel and traffic camera images from North Rd, Ascot Park takeaways and the BP gas station in Tay St.
He also watched images from traffic cameras in Mataura, in which a black Nissan X-Trail and a silver Mitsubishi — the cars the Crown believes to be connected to the defendant and his associates — were seen travelling from State Highway 1, turning to Bridge St and turning left at State Highway 93.
Const Herbert said the image at the nightclub showed a man, who he believed to be Samson, arriving at the site with a group about 1.05 am.
About 15 minutes later, he was seen leaving the club, looking through his phone and walking towards Dee St.
The surveillance images of the Bavarian Motel were also analysed. He noted a difference of about one hour between the CCTV camera time and the clock which police provided to him.
At 1.43am, Const Herbert observed a person entering the motel holding a cellphone.
"That person walks ... across the car park, in the direction of the unit 19 [where Miss Wilson’s body was found]."
About two hours later, a vehicle described as a dark-coloured SUV, parked near the entrance of the motel in North Rd. A minute later, a person walked from the driver’s side of the car towards unit 19.
Shortly after, a "figure" was seen leaving the unit and walking towards the car; about 10 minutes later the vehicle left North Rd and the video frame.
A video showing the dark SUV’s driver, who was granted name suppression, at the BP service station in Tay St was also shown to the jury.
Footage from Mataura Bridge showed a dark-coloured SUV heading towards Clinton about 5.18am. A silver car was seen at the same spot at 7.58am.
Under cross-examination, defence counsel Hugo Young spoke about the difference of quality between the images and said some of them changed the appearance of the vehicle or the person.
He asked Const Herbert about the footage of the Bavarian Motel and if he could identify who was pictured, or the model of the car through the video.
Const Herbert replied he could not, but that the shape of the car was similar to a Nissan X-Trail model.
The trial before Justice Gerald Nation continues today.
