The former actor, whose wife claimed he had worked on Shortland Street and served 16 tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Australian Defence Force, was still moving and making noises. <\/p>\n
But instead of leaving him to \u201csuccumb to his injury\u201d or offering medical assistance, the man and his girlfriend allegedly dragged Faatoia from the bedroom to an outdoor patio and continued the attack. <\/p>\n
During her opening statement, Crown prosecutor Clare Paterson told the jury of five women and seven men that the man rained more blows with his knife into Faatoia\u2019s body. <\/p>\n
He also stomped and kicked the victim about the head and face as the woman \u201cencouraged and incited\u201d him. <\/p>\n
The Crown alleged the woman then joined in the attack, kicking or stomping Faatoia as he lay face down on the patio floor.<\/p>\n
Parts of the incident were captured on CCTV footage, which would be played to the jury, Paterson said, along with mobile phone footage taken by the woman of a knife-wielding Faatoia threatening the couple in the moments before he was fatally stabbed. <\/p>\n
An aerial shot of the homicide scene on Tomuri Place in Auckland’s Mt Wellington. Photo \/ Hayden Woodward<\/p>\n
The couple are both charged with Faatoia\u2019s murder, of which the woman is accused of being a party to because of her actions in encouraging the violence. <\/p>\n
That the man caused Faatoia\u2019s death is not in dispute. However, the defendants argue the killing was in self-defence. <\/p>\n
The incident occurred on August 31 last year at a new-build townhouse development in Tomuri Place, Mt Wellington. <\/p>\n
The court heard the property had been leased by landlord Rebecca Allcock.<\/p>\n
But Allcock didn\u2019t live there. She sublet individual rooms to flatmates \u2013 a commercial arrangement she repeated at various other properties across Auckland. <\/p>\n
The couple had been living at the property for several months and had got offside with Allcock, the court heard, due to noise issues and rent arrears. <\/p>\n
Ten days before the killing, Allcock trespassed the couple and had police visit the property for an alleged breach. <\/p>\n
But when police took no action and left the couple at the property, Allcock needed another plan, Paterson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where Mr Faatoia came into the picture.\u201d <\/p>\n
The court heard homicide victim Finauga Faatoia was into body building and had trained in martial arts. <\/p>\n
Faatoia was also one of Allcock\u2019s tenants and had helped her resolve disputes with other boarders, the court heard. <\/p>\n
She asked for his help to evict the couple. He agreed to pay them a visit to look for \u201cevidence\u201d of drug use, telling his wife Sarah he would be paid a \u201csignificant amount of money\u201d. <\/p>\n
In messages that would be read to the court, Allcock told Faatoia: \u201cI will be interested to see what you uncover.\u201d<\/p>\n
He replied: \u201cJust a warning, I may have to rough them up a bit to get them out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine with that,\u201d Allcock responded. <\/p>\n
The court heard Faatoia rode his motorcycle to the property and entered the defendants\u2019 bedroom unannounced about 1pm. <\/p>\n
He pulled a knife from his clothing and told the couple to leave, as the woman began recording on her mobile phone. <\/p>\n
Faatoia demanded the woman\u2019s phone, at which point the recording ended. <\/p>\n
Tomuri Place in Mt Wellington was cordoned off after the fatal stabbing at the townhouse on August 31 last year. Photo \/ Hayden Woodward<\/p>\n
Paterson said there was \u201cno question\u201d Faatoia was intimidating and threatening the couple.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened next was a violent altercation.\u201d <\/p>\n
Paterson said the man grabbed his own knife and sliced Faatoia\u2019s jugular vein, which a pathologist found was the \u201cdirect cause\u201d of his death. <\/p>\n
The defendants then pulled Faatoia out to the patio through a ranch-slider door.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Faatoia wasn\u2019t dead yet. He was still alive and attempting to get up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attack on Mr Faatoia did not end there,\u201d Paterson told the jury. <\/p>\n
The man repeatedly stabbed Faatoia as he lay on the patio, stomping and kicking his head, as the woman \u201cshouted encouragement\u201d and joined the attack, the jury heard. <\/p>\n
The jury would hear a 111 call in which the woman could be heard screaming. <\/p>\n
First responders found Faatoia lying motionless and he was pronounced dead at the scene. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a situation that starts with a dispute between a landlord and tenants, escalates with a third party, and ends with the third party\u2019s murder,\u201d Paterson said.<\/p>\n
The Crown was not saying Allcock or Faatoia\u2019s actions were fair or legal. But the violence meted out by the couple went well beyond self-defence and amounted to murder, Paterson said. <\/p>\n
Police launched a homicide investigation after Finauga “Lee” Faatoia was found dead in the Auckland suburb of Mt Wellington in August last year. Photo \/ Hayden Woodward<\/p>\n
The man\u2019s lawyer Julie-Anne Kincade said her client was innocent and it was for the Crown to prove he was not acting in self-defence. <\/p>\n
Kincade said Faatoia burst into the bedroom dressed \u201chead to toe\u201d in military-style clothing before producing a knife and attacking the woman in her bed. <\/p>\n
When the couple warned him they had called police, Faatoia allegedly responded: \u201cPolice won\u2019t get here by the time I am done with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man felt he had no choice but to stab Faatoia, Kincade said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHis girlfriend was being attacked by an armed man. It is both good law and good sense that a man who is attacked may defend himself.\u201d <\/p>\n
Her client suffered a bite wound to his arm and the woman suffered \u201cdefensive lacerations\u201d to her hands. <\/p>\n
Kincade urged the jury to keep and open mind until they had heard all the evidence. <\/p>\n
Faatoia\u2019s wife Sarah then took the stand. She said her husband had done odd jobs for Allcock in the past, including \u201cmediation\u201d between flatmates. <\/p>\n
About a week before his death he told her he\u2019d agreed to visit the property to look for evidence of drugs to help Allcock evict the couple. <\/p>\n
Sarah said she was concerned about Faatoia\u2019s safety, telling him it wasn\u2019t worth the risk. <\/p>\n
\u201cI had a really bad feeling. I said, \u2018Babe, you don\u2019t have to do this\u2019. He said Rebecca was going to pay him and it was going to help our situation. He said, \u2018Don\u2019t worry babe, everything will be okay\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n
The trial continues before Justice Alexander MacGillivray.<\/p>\n
Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years\u2019 experience in the industry.<\/p>\n