The High Court in Wellington has seen CCTV footage of a man setting fire to a couch inside Loafers Lodge on the evening it burned down.
A 50 year-old-man, who has name suppression, is accused of murdering five people by setting the boarding house alight in May 2023.
The defence is expected to argue insanity.
In CCTV footage shown to the court on Friday afternoon, a man, who the Crown said is the defendant, sets an object on fire and places it under a couch in the level three lounge.
In CCTV footage shown to the court, a man sets an object on fire and places it under a couch in the level three lounge. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
The court has already seen footage of two other residents putting out that fire using items from the kitchen nearby to carry water, before retrieving a fire extinguisher.
The Crown said it was the first of two fires set that evening - the second would prove fatal.
In the footage, the man can be heard talking to himself as he walks down the stairs wearing a backpack just before starting the fire.
Once lit, he loiters briefly before leaving the building via the lift just before 11pm.
The Crown understands it is not in dispute that the defendant lit the fires. The defence is expected to argue insanity.
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