10-21-2008 New Zealand:A man accused of murdering his convicted sex offender step-father has admitted burning down his house.
Jamie Stewart Davies, 31, of Raglan, yesterday admitted a charge of arson at the start of his murder trial in the High Court at Hamilton.
Davies is charged with murdering his stepfather, Allan Wallace Davies, 57, whose body was found in his burned-out house in Struve St, Ngaruawahia, on September 28 last year.
Police arrested Davies four days later, in Tauranga.
An autopsy on Allan Davies showed he died before the fire, allegedly from injuries inflicted by the accused.
In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Ross Douch said Jamies Davies had arrived at his stepfather's home in the early hours of September 28 with the intention of confronting him.
The court heard that Allan Davies was due to be sentenced in the Hamilton District Court for historic sex offending. He had earlier been found guilty of five representative charges of committing indecencies with a girl under the age of 12.
Mr Douch told the court that in a taped interview at the Tauranga police station on October 2, Davies said he had "lost control" when confronting his step-father over his historic sex offending.
Davies admitted punching Allan Davies between 20 to 40 times.
During the taped interview, however, Davies insisted he had not gone round to the house to kill his stepfather but instead "to talk to him".
Mr Douch - citing a pathologist report - said Mr Davies' injuries included a 4cm fracture across his breast bone, an injury to the back of his head and neck injuries consistent with strangulation.
He said Davies had meant to cause the death of his step-father.
"He wanted him dead," Mr Douch told the jury.
The Crown is expected to call 18 witnesses, including a taxi driver who drove Davies to his stepfather's home on the day of the incident.
Defence counsel Paul Mabey QC, in his opening address, told the court that while Davies denied murdering Allan Davies, he did not deny killing him.
Mr Mabey said it was the jury's task to decide if Davies was guilty of murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter.
He said it was not a case of whether Davies could walk away free at the end of the trial.
The trial, before Justice Lang and a jury of six men and six women, continues. ..News Source.. by AARON LEAMAN
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