A man charged with murder alongside his childhood best friend, and then set fire to the house, has told the court he’s decided to tell the truth at trial because it has “weighed heavily on my conscience” and has been a huge burden to carry.
Sean Andrew Hayde and Greg Hart have pleaded not guilty to murdering Wiremu Arapo and attempting to pervert the course of justice by setting fire to Arapo’s Cockle Bay house. They each blame the other for the murder and have pleaded not guilty.
Arapo’s body was found with blunt force trauma wounds to his head. Toxicology tests suggest the 27-year-old personal trainer was dead before the fire started.
On Monday, Hayde told the jury his version of events of what happened on October 20, 2020. He told them it was Hart who had stabbed a knife into Arapo’s neck saying the words “goodbye brother” after a dispute about being kicked out of the Cockle Bay home.
But Hart has told the jury it was Hayde who killed Arapo after a fight about a woman Hayde had been seeing after tensions had been building.
Hart told the court Hayde was repeatedly stomping on Arapo and was covered in blood before grabbing a petrol can and dousing the room in petrol.
The Crown says both men killed Arapo and had separate motives to do so.
Michael Rowse
About a dozen police and fire vehicles were at the scene of a fire on Minerva Tce, in Cockle Bay, on October 20 (Video first published October 21, 2020).
Hart gave his evidence in chief yesterday and was cross-examined by Hayde’s lawyer, Julie-Anne Kincade KC, for the rest of Thursday and on Friday morning.
Kincade suggested to Hart he had told repeated lies and tried to paint himself as the victim in the days and weeks after the fire.
“You were the one who had killed Wiremu and had started the fire,” Kincade said.
“No…I was trying to get to Wiremu,” Hart replied.
Hart didn’t dispute he was trying to paint himself as a victim.
Text messages between Hart and his ex-partner show him asking if she thinks a “house horrifically burning down” was worthy of a Givealittle.
The ex-partner says she’s “not too sure” and points to the fact it would need to be shared to ask for donations.
“Oh yeah, yeah I dunno about the attention :),” Hart replied.
Kincade suggested it was because he realised it would be a “terrible idea”.
Jason Oxenham/Stuff
Greg Hart says it was his best friend who killed Wiremu Arapo.
On November 23, 2020, Hart made an internet search for “how to spot a liar ebook”.
That book is written by Gregory Hartley, a former army integrator.
Hart said he’d purchased the book a year before and was trying to reset a password to give a friend access to it.
But, Kincade suggested he was reading it as he was about to be arrested and had already lied to police, his friends, family and Arapo’s whānau.
Under cross-examination by prosecutor Ned Fletcher, Hart was asked why he’d decided to tell the truth now after telling lie, after lie, after lie.
“I’ve carried this for over three years, it weighed heavily on my conscience. It’s a huge burden to carry. I owe it to Wiremu, his friends, his fiancé…that they get the justice of their son, partner and the closure they deserve,” Hart said.
On October 20, as the fire raged in the Cockle Bay house, Hart lay on the lawn after getting out of the fire.
George Block/Stuff
The Cockle Bay home pictured after the fire.
Fletcher suggested he was faking unconsciousness to avoid answering questions about who was in the house, how the fire started and to buy more time to ensure Arapo wasn’t discovered before the fire engulfed the lounge.
Hart said that was not true.
When asked about why he lied and if Hayde hadn’t allegedly told him to “keep your mouth shut”, would he have told the truth, Hart said that was difficult to answer.
He said he was “overwhelmed by fear” of potential criminal proceedings and what Hayde would do to him.
Fletcher suggested after the pair of them killed Arapo, they put their heads together about what to do next and started the fire and tried to claim it was a horrible spotting accident before attempting to break into the house.
Again, Hart stood firm and told the court it was his friend who fought with Arapo, and he had nothing to do with it.
When Hayde was giving evidence, Borich questioned him on why Hart’s passport had turned up in a burnt sink and found after the fire by a detective. The passport, which was Hart’s did not show any sign of being exposed to the fire.
Borich suggested to Hayde it was he who planted those there after the fire. He denied this.
However, on Friday, Detective Karen Burgess told the court she’d been approached by a member of Arapo’s family who then went on to tell her a family member had placed the passport and pills in the sink.
Burgess told the court, members of the Arapo whānau had been at the Cockle Bay home after the fire to remove some of Arapo’s items.
Two family members went for a look around the house and found Hart’s passport and medication and picked them up. After going into the lounge where Arapo had died, they’d become emotional and gone outside.
Arapo’s fiancé then turned up and told them Hart had arrived, so one of them went to see him and told the other to put the items back.
The man put the items in the sink and forgot all about them after the conversation with Hart.
The trial before Justice Geoffrey Venning and a jury continues at the High Court at Auckland next week where the lawyers will close their cases to the jury before deliberations start.
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