Mon 17 Oct 2011 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Denis Phillips 6.30PM: Murder-accused teenager Willie Ahsee has faced repeated questions from the Crown about his state of mind when he stabbed gay Papakura man Denis Phillips. The 17-year-old has spent the day on the stand and will continue to be cross-examined tomorrow about the events of 30 July 2010, when he fatally stabbed Phillips in the neck with a steak knife. When he gave evidence for the defence this morning Ahsee said he was knocked to the ground from behind by Phillips in the kitchen, and grabbed a knife he had knocked out of a drawer, then swung his arm around and accidentally stabbed him. He said a fight then ensued and he just wanted to get his stuff and go home, but Phillips was blocking him. Ahsee told Crown Prosecutor David Johnstone “I was all good” when he asked him how he was feeling when he went into the kitchen before he stabbed Phillips, who he gave evidence had earlier touched his thigh trying to grab his "nut", and then touched his ear. He said both times he had batted Phillips' hand away. Johnstone suggested Ahsee was feeling upset with Phillips when he went into the kitchen, as there had been something physical between them and as the hours went on he decided he didn’t like it, which the teenager denied. “There was something that triggered some anger in you wasn’t there?” he asked, to which Ahsee responded “nope,” then again denied that he meant to stab Phillips. Johnstone continued to suggest Ahsee was not defending himself from the 59-year-old, but was instead angry with him, and pointed out the blood spatter pattern in the kitchen from Phillips' arterial wound as evidence he was stabbed in a position where he could not prevent the teenager from leaving the kitchen. But the accused disagreed and said "I don't know where he was standing. He was just standing at the back of me, like I said." Johnstone pressed: "there was no possible way he was blocking your way out of the kitchen was there?" Ahsee disagreed. He added that he didn't hit a bloodied Phillips in the kitchen, when Johnstone asked him about impact blood spatter that was found there. Ahsee said the pair fought in the lounge and when asked whether he accepts by the time Phillips ended up on the floor in the lounge he had stabbed him a number of times, he said "yeah I think so". Phillips had three other stab wounds than the fatal wound, two in the chest and one in the back of the neck. When asked to look at pictures of the stab wounds on Phillips' body, Ahsee refused. "Did you stab Mr Phillips in the back of the neck as he was seeking to get away from you?" Johnstone asked, to which Ahsee replied "no". When asked about whether he was scared of Phillips either before he stabbed him in the kitchen or when he was on the ground in the lounge, Ahsee replied "I don't know what I was thinking at the time." Johnstone suggested Ahsee had given Phillips a towel when he was on the floor, and helped him into the shower, which the teenager denied, saying he went into the shower himself to wash the blood from his head and upper body, and looked for his belongings. Phillips was found dead the next day in the hallway of his home, a hallway which runs between the lounge and bathroom and is the last place Ahsee said he saw him before he left the house. 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 - 6:34pm