Crown prosecutor Chris Howard. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
Cunniffe was described by prosecutors as an animal lover whose interest in chickens had crossed the line to hoarding as her methamphetamine usage increased. She would often sleep in her car at the property while chickens stayed in her room, jurors were told. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you knew Judy Rose, you don\u2019t get near her ducks or her chickens and cause any harm to them; otherwise, you\u2019re in the s***,\u201d said Moutray, who figured he knew both Cunniffe and the defendant for \u201c30-odd years\u201d.<\/p>\n
He had arrived at the property at around lunchtime that day and had used a connection to get the defendant a half gram of methamphetamine for $150, he recalled. <\/p>\n
Shortly after the drug was delivered, Cunniffe came into the room and pushed another woman who lived there off of her chair, the witness said, explaining that Cunniffe was livid because she thought the other woman had put her chooks in cages then neglected to feed them. <\/p>\n
\u201cCalm down, Judy Rose, and have a puff,\u201d Moutray recalled telling her. <\/p>\n
A man with name suppression appears in the High Court at Auckland after Judith Cunniffe was found dead inside a vehicle in Waiuku in April 2025. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
Cunniffe initially declined but then took the pipe and smoked all of the remnants, he said. Then she took what was left in the bag after finding out the defendant had paid for it, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s ripped me off enough – I\u2019m taking that bag,\u201d he recalled her saying as she left. <\/p>\n
After realising the defendant was at the house, Cunniffe said she was going to ring the police and get his dog destroyed, the witness said. <\/p>\n
Police did show up at the house later looking for the defendant, but he hid under a bed with his dog and police never found them, Moutray said. <\/p>\n
He recalled leaving the house at about 6.30pm to do chores in Pukekohe, including picking up a methadone prescription for the other female resident. He saw Cunniffe sitting in her car as he left, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know he\u2019s in there, Davey,\u201d he recalled her telling him. \u201cWhen he comes out I\u2019m going to take a photo and send it straight to police. I\u2019ll see you when you get back.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe seemed quite happy, knowing that he was there and she was going to snap him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He returned to the home about five hours later and smoked more meth before going inside, at which point he said the defendant first mentioned the killing then showed him the body. <\/p>\n
\u201cSomething to do with her head didn\u2019t look right,\u201d he said. \u201cTo me, it looked like a soccer ball that was flat and pushed in. I didn\u2019t look too much harder.\u201d <\/p>\n
After that point, he said, \u201cthings turned a little surreal\u201d and \u201cgot a little bit fragmented\u201d as he spent the rest of the night with the defendant and others until sunrise, continuing to use drugs. <\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, \u2018Oh, he might have a gun or something like that,\u2019\u201d he said of not calling 111. \u201cI just wanted to make sure he was gone and everyone was safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Sacha Norrie pointed to numerous inconsistencies between Moutray\u2019s testimony and the three statements he gave police in the weeks following Cunniffe\u2019s death. His testimony also differed at points with two other witnesses who were there that night. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see any obvious injuries and I didn\u2019t see any blood,\u201d he initially told police of Cunniffe\u2019s body, mentioning nothing about a football.<\/p>\n
Norrie suggested her client was \u201cquiet and subdued\u201d that night. She cited one of Moutray\u2019s own police statements.<\/p>\n
She also suggested that the witness was lying about hearing the defendant say he \u201csorted that c*** out\u201d or making a joke about a possum in the back of the car. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a good reason to exaggerate or put the boot in – to cover your own backside,\u201d Norrie told the witness, suggesting that he was the one repeatedly suggesting ways to dispose of the body while her client remained quiet that night. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s hideous,\u201d he replied. \u201cI don\u2019t agree at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norrie called him the \u201cideas man\u201d after discovering the body. He had his own violent history with Cunniffe, she suggested, and didn\u2019t want the body found because it could lead police to suspect him. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou invented or amped up the things [the defendant] had said,\u201d she suggested. <\/p>\n
Annoyed, the witness said he wasn\u2019t going to justify the question with an answer. Justice Simon Mount said he had to. <\/p>\n
\u201cBull****,\u201d the witness muttered eventually in response to the question. \u201cWhat was there to amp up?\u201d<\/p>\n
Justice Simon Mount. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
Moutray\u2019s testimony lasted all but the last 30 minutes of the day. Prosecutors then called witness Miriam Snook, who met Moutray the day after Cunniffe\u2019s death. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was distraught,\u201d she said of Moutray. \u201cHe was just crying a lot – freaking out.\u201d<\/p>\n
She recalled Moutray saying the victim\u2019s \u201cface was caved in\u201d and how the defendant seemed \u201cproud of it\u201d. <\/p>\n
That same day she tried to reach her nephew, who is a police officer, she said. She went to police in person later that day, encouraging Moutray to go with her but he never showed, she said. <\/p>\n
The trial continues today.<\/p>\n