The jury of nine men and three women had heard evidence and repeatedly viewed footage of the four men’s attack on Taylor, which lasted more than two minutes.
Boy Taylor was living mainly on the street at the time he died. Photo / Supplied
They saw Taylor, 58, repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped on in the attack on Emerson St about 2.35am on December 18, 2024.
He was declared dead at the scene from blunt-force trauma, including multiple skull fractures.
The two men found not guilty of murder, but who had previously admitted manslaughter, were Rua Hune, 34, and Tuarima Alexander, 22.
During the trial, Hune’s lawyer, Matthew Phelps, had pointed out to the jury that his client stepped away from the fracas for periods of time while he attended to a cut on his forehead.
Alexander’s counsel, Nicola Graham, said he was the “least involved” in what happened, generally trailing the others and on the periphery.
The defence case for all defendants had turned upon a provision of the Crimes Act that defines murder: to be guilty of murder, a person must intend to cause another’s death or be “reckless” about whether their actions are likely to cause that person to die.
Lawyers for all four men had argued that these conditions had been absent.
The four men had also been charged with injuring with intent to do grievous bodily harm, in relation to another man who was attacked by them about two hours earlier.
The jury delivered split verdicts in relation to that incident also – finding Henare and Kumar guilty, but finding against Hune and Alexander only on the lesser charge of injuring with intent to injure.
Taylor armed himself with bottles
During the trial, the Crown and defence counsel presented alternative pictures of Taylor and the fracas that killed him.
Crown prosecutor Fiona Cleary portrayed the street dweller as being alone and vulnerable on the streets of Napier in the early hours of the morning.
The four men involved in the killing of Boy Taylor.
From left; Trizarn Henare, Rua Hune, Tuarima Alexander and Takarangi Kumar.
Photo / Ric Stevens
She said the four accused set upon him in “a sustained, repeated and escalating attack”.
However, defence counsel Eric Forster, appearing for Henare, said that Taylor became “armed and dangerous” at the point he took two bottles from the trolley in which he kept his belongings.
He smashed them, and threw one before brandishing the other as a weapon.
Two of the four later charged were cut by glass – Hune on his forehead and Henare above his left eye and a gash on his leg.
Police later tracked the trail of blood spots that the men’s injuries left on the street. It went for about 500m.
Justice David Boldt today remanded all four men in custody until July 17 for sentencing.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.