Warning: This story contains details of violence and abuse.
A woman, who allegedly died at the hands of a man on trial for her manslaughter, was found to have suffered 76 injuries, including those consistent with strangulation, a court has been told.
(File image). Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The Crown said the accused stomped on her, kicked her and offered her to others for sex in the days leading to her death.
Maui Philip Downes faces trial before Justice Peter Churchman and a jury in the High Court at Palmerston North, charged with the woman's manslaughter and indecently assaulting her.
He is also accused of disfiguring another woman with intent by pouring boiling water over her.
Downes, 55, admitted to injuring the second woman with intent, assault and causing grievous bodily harm with intent for two attacks.
The women's identities are suppressed.
Crown prosecutor Deborah Davies said the woman that Downes is accused of killing could not be revived by paramedics on 16 October 2019.
They were called to Downes' room at Legacy House, an emergency accommodation provider in Palmerston North, where the woman was staying.
In the early hours the previous day, Downes' neighbours were woken by a loud bang and other noises. They saw the woman, looking pale and shaken, Davies said.
Three days before the woman's death, Downes and others were passing around a methamphetamine pipe in the room, she said.
Downes tried to inject substances in his arms and had a needle in his leg, she said.
The woman was asleep on his floor, wrapped in a blanket, when Downes kicked her and stomped on her stomach and her head, she said.
The Crown said over the following days, he indecently assaulted and injured her so violently it caused her death.
Davies also said Downes offered the woman to others for sex.
An ambulance was called on 16 October, when paramedics tried for about 50 minutes to revive the woman.
Downes initially said the woman had choked on a piece of bread "as big as a giant Jaffa", but the paramedics did not find anything in her airway.
"The Crown case is the choking story is not the reality here," Davies said.
A post-mortem examination revealed the woman had suffered 76 injuries, including head wounds, a broken wrist, old and new rib fractures, and neck injuries consistent with strangulation.
She also had a puncture wound on one hand and drugs in her system.
It was not plausible a "mysterious unknown assailant" caused the injuries to the woman, or that they happened by accident, Davies said.
Downes admitted assaulting a second woman on two occasions in October 2019. He had previous convictions for assaulting her.
He is also accused of pouring boiling hot coffee on her and, when the woman was in hospital after one of the assaults, threatened a liaison worker into not saying what happened.
Downes' lawyer Gareth Stone said the defence would argue there was doubt over what caused the fatal injuries to the first woman or who was responsible for them.
Downes did not intend to cause the second woman serious harm during the incident with boiling water.
"We are not here to say Mr Downes is innocent of any wrongdoing. There are parts of this case that he accepts," Stone said.
"Mr Downes is not on trial for who he is as a person. All he asks for and is entitled to ask for is a fair trial."
The trial continues.
