His body lay inside a collapsed tent at Gate Pā Reserve for two days until someone Eddy confessed to went to police.
Kennedy’s body was discovered on October 6.
Witnesses have told the jury the pair often argued, and in the days before he died Eddy was heard saying she was going to kill him.
The trial before Judge Kiri Tahana entered its third day today and the jury heard from witnesses including a police officer, a meal service volunteer and the friend, Joanne Shortland.
Shortland told the jury she stayed with Eddy at her campsite the night after Kennedy died.
She said she saw something under what she thought was a tarpaulin.
“I was looking at the tarpaulin and I said, ‘what’s under there?’, and I can’t remember what she [Eddy] said.”
Shortland said when she went to leave the campsite to go for a “wee wee”, Eddy said to her: “Don’t go up there, you might find a dead body”.
“I took it as a joke,” Shortland said.
Detective Joel Potaka gave evidence that he interviewed Eddy at the scene on the day of her arrest.
Potaka said she told him that she had been raped before and had tried to tell police on several occasions.
She said: “I have told you they have been raping me. You don’t know what it’s like being a single woman living on the streets.”
She went on to say she strangled Kennedy because he was trying to touch her, which shocked her because he was her friend.
Potaka said she said: “I don’t care anymore because now I am going to jail and I will be safe from all of them.”
In her video interview with police, she gave more detail.
She said Kennedy was staying with her at her campsite. She went into the tent in the early hours of the morning and found him masturbating.
“I said, ‘don’t do that, you are my friend and I don’t want to see that’. He said, ‘come join me’.”
Eddy said they got into a “heated argument” because Kennedy knew she had been abused before. She said he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“I simply got angry because I’ve been through a lot in my life.”
Gate Pā Reserve, where Ross Kennedy’s body was found in October 2024. Photo / Sandra Conchie
She said she got out of the tent to get away from it but then sat on him through the tent, and it came down around him.
“I was screaming at him, ‘Rossco stop it, why are you doing this, you have never gone like that’. Then I turned around and stood up because he stopped moving.”
Nicholas Scullin, a volunteer at a dinner service for the homeless in Tauranga called Under The Stars, gave evidence about his interaction with Eddy on October 4, hours after Kennedy is believed to have died.
Scullin said he noticed she looked sad, so he asked if she was okay. Eddy told him she had strangled Kennedy and killed him because he had stolen $200 off her and she was sick of people taking things off her.
Scullin said he hugged Eddy to show compassion and told her to talk to her lawyer and go to police.
He said he didn’t sleep well that night, but did not ring police because he was not sure if it was just a “story” Eddy had told.
Bill Nabney, who is representing Eddy with Rita Nabney, indicated in an opening address on Monday that the defence would question whether Eddy caused Kennedy’s death, and whether she meant to do so.
Richard Jensen and Emily O’Brien are appearing for the Crown.
The trial is expected to last two weeks.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.