During the trial of three men for the murder of Wairarapa man Paul Irons the court has heard a witness describe Irons as drunk, using cannabis and with a bloody syringe in his bag the night before he was fatally bashed last October. Paul Irons Irons, 36, whom his father has vehemently and publicly denied was gay, was found in the early hours of October 9th bloodied and partly naked with serious head injuries in Featherston's Triangle Park. He died when his life support was turned off five days later. Andrew Kupa-Cauldwell, Rangitera Walker and Shaun Sullivan have all pleaded not guilty to murdering Irons. Kupa-Cauldwell's girlfriend at the time gave evidence that he had felt unable to touch her the day after the attack because "he'd heard that the guy he had attacked had HIV and he'd need to have a shower." Evidence was also given that Kupa-Cauldwell had contacted the woman minutes after the attack, using Irons' cellphone, texted her to erase all communications between them because "I... murdered someone babe." She also told the court that Kupa-Cauldwell later described "one of the boys snapping his fingers back and he could hear them breaking and someone stomping on his... head." The trial continues in the Wellington High Court.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 18th November 2009 - 11:16pm