It is set to run for four weeks, during which more than 30 witnesses will give evidence. <\/p>\n
Michael Scott Rodger is on trial for murdering and dismembering Richard Leman and dumping his body in his own car at a vacant North Canterbury home. Photo \/ RNZ pool<\/p>\n
Opening the Crown case, prosecutor Sean Mallett outlined the details of the alleged murder. <\/p>\n
He warned the jury that the evidence they would hear during the trial would be \u201cat times confronting\u201d and \u201cgraphic in nature\u201d.<\/p>\n
He explained that in the lead up to the alleged murder, Leman was \u201cliving a somewhat chaotic lifestyle\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was involved in the consumption and the supply of methamphetamine, which may have been causing him financial problems and drew the attention of gangs,\u201d Mallett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was having difficulties with his ex-partner relating to the care of their young children, and he harboured concerns at that time that he was going to be arrested for breaching a protection order.\u201d<\/p>\n
The court heard that it was through his drug activity that Leman knew the accused.<\/p>\n
Mallett said there had been \u201csome animosity\u201d between the men and that came to a head on the night of April 11, 2023.<\/p>\n
During the day, Leman smoked methamphetamine with his friend Sara Plimmer at her home before driving her to a location in Rangiora to \u201cconduct a drug deal\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cCCTV footage shows this taking place at around 9.14pm that evening,\u201d Mallett said.<\/p>\n
Richard Leman was last seen on April 11. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral minutes later, at around 9.17pm, Mr Leman\u2019s motor vehicle can be seen on CCTV pulling up to the Rangiora Burger King drive-through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leman purchased takeaways, and he drove to Morgan Grant\u2019s home on Andrew St. <\/p>\n
Leman and Grant \u2013 also known as Molly \u2013 were friends, and she had asked him to buy her dinner as she had no money. <\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Grant and Miss Plummer began eating their Burger King on the bed in Miss Grant\u2019s bedroom, watching TV and chatting about Miss Grant\u2019s puppy,\u201d Mallett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Leman was fossicking around the house trying to find something to smoke another hit of methamphetamine.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is alleged that Grant \u201csecretly invited\u201d Rodger to her house, telling him Leman was there. <\/p>\n
His \u201cdistinctive blue VW\u201d was captured on CCTV at 9.30pm, parking on Andrew St.<\/p>\n
Mallett said both Plimmer and Grant would give evidence during the trial about what happened next.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will tell you that as they were sitting on the bed, eating their Burger King, they heard arguing coming from an adjoining lounge and so got up to investigate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey found Mr Rodger and Mr Leman standing in the lounge facing each other. Mr Rodger had a gun. The Crown alleges that he shot Mr Leman twice \u2013 first, a round into his left leg and then a second fatal shot into his chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo first aid was administered, nor were emergency services called. Within minutes, perhaps less, Richard Leman had passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n
An autopsy later revealed that Leman died after a .22 calibre was fired into his chest and travelled through his sternum, lodging itself in the tissue behind his rib cage. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe bullet had pierced Mr Leman\u2019s aorta, causing his chest cavity to fill with blood,\u201d Mallett said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Rodger] threatened to kill Sara Plimmer and Molly Grant as well. He looted the deceased of the cash and the methamphetamine that he had on him and dragged the body into the spare bedroom of the address. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe also smashed the phones which Mr Leman on him … at one stage the trio then sat and smoked methamphetamine for a period.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Plimmer will explain that she was terrified and was doing what she thought necessary to appease the defendant, to keep him on side and to keep herself safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 1am Rodger \u201cinsisted\u201d on driving Plimmer home. <\/p>\n
Mallett said as she got out of the car Rodger \u201cthreatened to kill her if she told anybody about what she had seen\u201d.<\/p>\n
Justice Jonathan Eaton. Photo \/ NZME <\/p>\n
Hours later, Rodger allegedly drove Leman\u2019s car to an address on Percival St. <\/p>\n
On April 16 it was moved again to a vacant property on Tyler St.<\/p>\n
At some stage before then \u2013 either at Andrew St on the night the victim was killed, or at Percival St in the days following \u2013 Mallett alleged Rodger decapitated and dismembered Leman.<\/p>\n
His torso was wrapped in plastic and put in the boot of his own car. <\/p>\n
\u201cBoth his lower legs had been cut off at the knees, as had his right arm at the elbow and his left hand at the wrist,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no head, the body having been decapitated. None of these severed body parts were present alongside the torso and to date, they have never been located by police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mallett said in the days that followed the alleged murder, Rodger spent \u201clengthy periods of time\u201d at Grant\u2019s home.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe will explain in her evidence how the defendant had essentially moved in and how she thought that this was so that he could keep an eye on her,\u201d he told the jury.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day after Mr Leman was killed [she] purchased various items of cleaning equipment including bleach, carpet cleaner and stain remover in an effort, the Crown says, to conduct a deep clean of their address.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Mr Rodger\u2019s direction, she also took steps to try and dispose of [his] motor vehicle. As a result, Miss Grant herself was charged with being an accessory after the fact to this murder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leman\u2019s body was found six days after he died by two teenagers \u201cexploring\u201d the vacant property.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the smell emanating from the vehicle and the fact that the vehicle had two different number plates, which indicated to them it was stolen, they left the property and reported what they had discovered to adults,\u201d Mallett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose adults, in turn, contacted the police. Thankfully, the boys at the time were unable to open the boot, and so they did not themselves witness what was inside \u2013 that thankless task fell to attending emergency personnel later that evening. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn that boot, police located the torso of Mr Leman, wrapped in plastic. There was no head, nor were the severed limbs present.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was found alongside the body was a hatchet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leman’s car in the garage of the vacant property in Rangiora, North Canterbury. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n
Mallett said a forensic examination confirmed the hatchet had \u201cblood and small pieces of tissue\u201d on it belonging to Leman.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is likely that this item was used as part of the dismemberment,\u201d Mallett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police cannot rule out the possibility that other items were also used, given the severity and extent of what took place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mallett said the jury would also hear evidence about phone calls made by Rodger after Leman\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
In those calls, he claims Leman was already dead when he arrived at Grant\u2019s house \u2013 and that they had been set up by both Grant and the police. <\/p>\n
Leman\u2019s lawyer Pip Hall KC said it was \u201cabsolutely essential\u201d the jury keep an open mind throughout the trial and that the Crown evidence was \u201cwrong, inaccurate and unreliable\u201d.<\/p>\n
They would, he said, not be able to find Rodger guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. <\/p>\n
Michael Scott Rodger. Photo \/ RNZ<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Rodger and the defence team challenge the truth and reliability of the stories of Molly Grant and Sara Plimmer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael Rodger is not guilty. The defence is that Michael Rodger did not shoot [Richard Leman].\u201d<\/p>\n
Hall said to convict his client, the jury needed to be sure that the evidence of Grant and Plimmer was \u201cactually true … reliable and accurate\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd are not allegations motivated by other reasons, such as self-preservation or protection of others, or allegations conjured up from them, clouded and distorted by the use of alcohol and meth.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn issue to look out for … is whether they are prone to lying, manufacturing evidence and collusion, and getting stories synchronised \u2013 because these sorts of matters will obviously affect their reliability and credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hall said the Crown narrative of Leman\u2019s death had \u201cno foundation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is absolutely essential for you to keep an open mind and wait until you\u2019ve heard all the evidence,\u201d he urged. <\/p>\n
The trial continues. <\/p>\n
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is set to run for four weeks, during which more than 30 witnesses will give evidence. Michael…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31389,1117,1554,95,11154,23835,4487,634,159313,181,159314,159317,2082,1874,159316,27501,12517,95690,159315,5158,4275,111,43,139,69,1118,10521,25018,10715,15160,16349,54,3608,17454],"class_list":{"0":"post-286244","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-abandoned","9":"tag-accused","10":"tag-alleged","11":"tag-and","12":"tag-begins","13":"tag-boot","14":"tag-christchurch","15":"tag-death","16":"tag-decapitating","17":"tag-details","18":"tag-dismembering","19":"tag-dismemberment","20":"tag-for","21":"tag-found","22":"tag-grisly","23":"tag-heard","24":"tag-jury","25":"tag-killers","26":"tag-leman","27":"tag-man","28":"tag-murder","29":"tag-new-zealand","30":"tag-news","31":"tag-newzealand","32":"tag-nz","33":"tag-of","34":"tag-opening","35":"tag-partial","36":"tag-remains","37":"tag-richard","38":"tag-surrounding","39":"tag-trial","40":"tag-were","41":"tag-whose"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}