Mon 17 Oct 2011 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Willie Ahsee 1.00PM: Murder-accused teenager Willie Ahsee has told the court he doesn't remember why he picked up a knife, but stated he did not intend to hit Denis Phillips with it and did not realise he had stabbed him until he saw he had blood on his hands. The 17-year-old spoke quietly and often had his head bowed as he took the stand in his own defence at his trial for the murder of the 59-year-old gay Papakura man, who the Crown said had a “liking” for young men and a history of propositioning them. Ahsee told the court Phillips twice made advances towards him when they were drinking at the older man's house on 30 July last year, once touching his thigh and then touching his earlobe. He recalled later going into the kitchen to get a bottle opener and pulling the cutlery drawer out with such force it fell on the floor. The teenager said Phillips started shouting and either hit, kick or shoved him from behind and when he hit the ground he grabbed whatever he first found and swung his arm around. This is when the defence contends Phillips suffered his fatal wound, which was the severing of his vertebral artery with a steak knife. “I thought he was going to attack me, he was yelling and he pushed me over,” Ahsee said, adding he did not remember why he picked up the knife and did not intend to hit Phillips, but “just wanted him to get out of the way,” because he “just wanted to go home.” Ahsee said he couldn't get his stuff and get out because would not get out of the way and they then started having a fight. “He swung at me and I swung at him,” he said, adding he thought he was still holding the knife. The teenager said he did not know whether Phillips hit him, as he was too drunk to feel anything, but recalled they fought through the lounge and the hallway. He remembered Phillips being on the ground in the lounge at one stage, which is when he tried to find his shoes, his jumper and his beanie. Ahsee said at one stage he went into Phillips' bedroom and looked for a t-shirt to change into as his had blood on it. He said he cleaned blood off himself in the shower, wearing just his shorts. He said when he came out of the bathroom Phillips was up from the lounge and had fallen in the hallway, and said he told him to “get the fuck out of my house”. Ahsee admitted taking Phillips' laptop, phone a sweatshirt and shoes before leaving the house, with Phillips still on the floor in his hallway. He said he shook Phillips “to see if he was still alive”, which he was. The teenager walked to his Papakura home and concedes that on the way he must have dumped clothes that were later found on someone's property. He said he remembered screaming near his home and smashing windows at his house and being taken in by police for detox. Ahsee was released the next morning and was given a lift home, where he had a shower and went to sleep. He said he spoke to his mother and said goodbye to his brothers and sisters before going to his grandparents' house, then to the police station with his mother, uncle and grandmother. It was then that Ahsee took police to Phillips' house and his body was found face-down in the hallway of his bloodied house. The teenager told the court he has blank spots from the night, something he has had before. “I just have memory loss and black out when I drink too much,” he said. He said he realised he had stabbed Phillips when he saw blood on his hands and accepts he caused the four knife wounds the older man had to his upper body, including the fatal wound to his neck. When asked by defence lawyer David Jones QCwhether he intended to kill Phillips he replied “nah.” When asked whether he intended to cause him an injury that he could die from he said “no” and when then asked what he was trying to do that night he said he was just trying to get out of Phillips' house. Ahsee's Defence lawyer David Jones QC earlier told the jury anyone who has had such an experience with drinking and blacking out will know “people who do not remember things because of alcohol are not liars”. The trial continues at the High Court in Auckland. GayNZ.com's in-court coverage will continue throughout each day of the trial.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 17th October 2011 - 12:51pm