Mon 17 Oct 2011 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Willie Ahsee 4.00PM: Murder-accused Willie Ahsee became outraged and upset in court when asked about whether he'd had sexual contact with the gay man he fatally stabbed, responding “fuck off, I ain't fucking gay” to the Crown Prosecutor before briefly getting to his feet and trying to leave the witness box. “Do you think I'm a fucking homo? I ain't fucking gay. Fuck you,” the 17-year-old said to Crown Prosecutor David Johnstone. “I ain't fucking gay,” he repeated, standing up and trying to leave the stand, before sitting down again for further questioning. While cross-examining Ahsee, Johnstone had asked whether he'd had a 'sexual episode' with temporary sworn police officer Denis Phillips while they were drinking at his Papakura house on 30 July 2010, the night the then 16-year-old fatally stabbed the 59-year-old in the neck in with a steak knife. The prosecutor asked about earlier ESR evidence that a stain of the teenager's saliva was found on the crotch of Phillips' shorts and questioned him with “Had you had your mouth on or near to his crotch on or near that period from 5.30 to 8 o'clock?” to which Ahsee responded “Nope” and said “I might have spat, his shorts might have been on the ground when we were having a fight and I might have spat.” Ahsee said earlier that Phillips had touched his thigh and his ear as they were drinking, and when Johnstone suggested that if there was any intimate sort of touching it wasn't of that kind, he said “How the fuck do you know? Were you fucking there?” before being reduced to tears. The teenager also showed frustration in the stand while being grilled on whether he really went into Phillips' kitchen to get a bottle opener. The teenager said Phillips, a gay temporary sworn police officer who Ahsee told police was his boxing trainer, tried to touch his “nut” during a post-workout drinking session at his Papakura house, and he slapped his hand away. He said he did the same when Phillips tried to touch his ear. Ahsee said at some stage after this. the older man went into his bedroom and he went into the kitchen to get a bottle opener and pulled the cutlery drawer so hard it hit the floor and some of its contents spilled. The accused said he then heard Phillips shout at him and was knocked over from behind, which is when he grabbed the nearest thing from the floor, which was a steak knife, and swung his arm around. The defence said this was when Phillips suffered his fatal wound, a cut to the neck which severed a major artery. He also had three other stab wounds from what Ahsee said was an ensuing fight as he tried to leave the house. When asked repeatedly by Johnstone whether he really went into the kitchen to get a bottle opener, he was adamant that he did. “Now you didn't go into the kitchen to get a bottle opener did you?” Johnstone asked with Ahsee replying firmly with “Yes I did”. When it was pointed out by Johnstone that the pair had been drinking cask wine, tequila and a bourbon mix, none of which required a bottle opener and there was no sign of any other bottles in the pictures from the house, Ahsee said he took a bottle of 'something', from Phillip's place and smashed it on the way home. Witnesses have reported glass being smashed on Ahsee's street on the night Phillips was killed and when the teenager was asked whether he was just working a bottle into story, he said he wasn't. The repeated questions about the bottle led Ahsee to tell Johnstone to “hurry up then," and "go then" when he was asked to wait for the question to be finished, as he became frustrated in the stand. Ahsee stated he was not sure where he specifically got the bottle from other than it was Phillips' house, and when Johnstone pointed out he had told police “I don't know where I got that bottle from” in a statement the day after the death he said “I can't remember, it's been a whole year.” The teenager added “I know I got a bottle from his house. I might have but I'm not perfectly sure. I never went to any other places.” Repeated questions about the bottle led Ahsee to respond “Yeah mate,” and “Yeah bro” to the prosecutor. Ahsee was also grilled on details of whether he did weights the first day he met Phillips, how many times he went to his house, whether he drank with him or went into parts of his house other than the gym before he died. He was also asked whether he learned the older man was attracted to younger men over the four weeks he knew him. “In those four weeks when you visited Mr Phillips you learned that he was interested in young men?” Johnstone asked, with Ahsee replying “Nope.” He was asked whether he had spoken about it with the friend who introduced them, to which he also replied “Nope.” 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 - 3:46pm