In a brief opening statement, Beale\u2019s lawyer, Kelly-Ann Stoikoff, told the jury her client killed his mother, but he was not guilty of murder.<\/p>\n
She said Beale never intended, planned or \u201cwanted\u201d to kill the woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the darkest times in our lives surely must be the death of a parent. How much darker is that time when the death is by your hand?\u201d Stoikoff asked the jury.<\/p>\n
Crown prosecutor Chris Howard said Beale had lived with his mother for most of his life and onAugust 7, 2025, was seen walking \u201cseveral times\u201d between the home they shared and the shops in Papatoetoe<\/a>, South Auckland.<\/p>\n Beale had tried to source methamphetamine on this particular day, Howard said, but it was \u201cunclear\u201d whether he was successful.<\/p>\n What was clear, Howard said, was that Beale\u2019s behaviour had become \u201cmore and more erratic\u201d in the days leading up to his mother\u2019s death. <\/p>\n Neighbours had seen him on the street ranting, shouting, screaming, \u201cshaking his fists at no one\u201d and breaking letter boxes, he said.<\/p>\n About 4pm, his mother was visited by some of her friends, who Howard said were there to help her with her computer and were possibly the last people to see her alive.<\/p>\n Around 8pm, the 84-year-old<\/a> accessed her social media, he said, indicating she was still alive at that time.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were no eyewitnesses to the fatal beating that happened next.\u201d<\/p>\n Howard claimed blood spatter analysis showed the assault started in the living room and that Phillip Beale then dragged his mother to a bedroom where he continued the beating.<\/p>\n \u201cThe greatest concentration of blood was actually in the bedroom where Mrs Beale\u2019s body was found.\u201d<\/p>\n Howard told the High Court <\/a>at Auckland that Beale struck his mother multiple times to the head and body, causing bleeding around her brain and bruising and cuts to her scalp, mouth, ear and neck.<\/p>\n He said there were \u201cquite large\u201d bruises on her chest and injuries to her arms and hands consistent with her trying to defend herself.<\/p>\n She died from blunt force trauma to the head, he said.<\/p>\n At 9.19pm, Beale left the house and attempted to jump off an overbridge. An oncoming train<\/a> stopped and a bystander called the police.<\/p>\n Howard said Beale was found by police back in the Papatoetoe shops talking to himself and saying he was from space and wanted to die.<\/p>\n \u2018She is dead\u2019<\/p>\n When he was taken to Middlemore Hospital<\/a> he became aggressive and had to be sedated, and it was only two days later, Howard said, that Beale \u201cbegan to open up\u201d about what had happened to his mother.<\/p>\n He allegedly told one of the hospital nurses that he had jumped off the bridge after killing his mother.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is dead because I punched her because she is f****** old,\u201d Howard told the jury, quoting what Beale allegedly said to the nurse.<\/p>\n \u201cHe added that she is a witch,\u201d Howard said.<\/p>\n This prompted hospital staff to do a wellness check on Beale\u2019s mother and, when they arrived at her home, they found her with a blanket partly over her.<\/p>\n \u201cShe had been dead for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n When police arrived, they found a red petrol can on the bed next to the dead woman as well as a can of fly spray.<\/p>\n They also found matches outside the front door and throughout the house, a matchbox on the porch and what appeared to be liquid splashed on the bottom of the front door.<\/p>\n A porcelain rabbit<\/p>\n A porcelain rabbit was also found in the house, which Howard said was considered relevant because it was covered in Joan Beale\u2019s blood.<\/p>\n In the garage, which Howard said was also occupied by Phillip Beale, the police found methamphetamine paraphernalia and a test of his blood after the killing showed a presence of the drug in his system<\/a>.<\/p>\n On a calendar on the wall of the garage, Howard said, were the words \u201clady killer\u201d written in black marker.<\/p>\n Howard told the court that when Beale was taken from the hospital to the police station, he admitted to punching his mother in the head. He said it was only once and he panicked after she fell and he didn\u2019t know what to do and \u201cjust left her there\u201d.<\/p>\n