Amandeep Kaur and her lover blame each other for the murder of Mrs Kaur's husband.
In the High Court in Auckland, from left: Amandeep Kaur, a translator, another translator and Gurjinder Singh. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The jury deciding the case has retired to consider its verdicts after hearing more than four weeks of evidence from over 50 witnesses.
Today, the jurors heard closing addresses from defence lawyers and a summing up of the case from Justice Lang.
Davender Singh was found stabbed to death in his car as he sat in the driver's seat, parked on the side of Norman Spencer Drive in South Auckland in August 2014.
Gurjinder Singh's lawyer Ish Jayanandan said Mrs Kaur was in a miserable marriage and had no way out.
Ms Jayanandan said Davender Singh was controlling and violent, and that only intensified after he discovered his wife was having an affair with Gurjinder Singh.
She said Mrs Kaur's culture severely punished women caught having an affair and that could include being ostracised and severe violence.
When the affair was discovered, she said, Mrs Kaur's life came crashing down and she saw her only saviour as Gurjinder Singh.
Ms Jayanandan told the jurors to get past any preconceptions they had about gender.
She said a woman could kill when she believed she had no other way out.
Ms Jayanandan quoted the famous William Congreve poem "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" and said Mrs Kaur was a woman scorned when Gurjinder broke off the affair.
She said her client ended the affair when it was discovered, and he had moved on with his life.
She said when Gurjinder pulled up at Norman Spencer Drive, Davender saw him and was distracted long enough for Mrs Kaur to inflict the fatal wounds.
But Mrs Kaur's lawyer John Anderson said she called off the affair, and Gurjinder Singh was enraged by that rejection.
He said Gurjinder Singh had resolved that if he couldn't have Mrs Kaur then neither could Davender Singh.
Mr Anderson acknowledged his client had been involved in writing notes to Gurjinder Singh that involved planning the murder of her husband - but, two days before the murder, she had reconciled with her husband and pulled out of the plan.
When the attack took place, he said, Mrs Kaur tried to fend off Gurjinder Singh and got a cut to her hand.
He also said there was no scientific or forensic evidence that pointed to his client carrying out the stabbing, whereas Gurjinder Singh had a cut to his finger and left blood near Davender Singh's car.
He said the knife and bloody clothing were also later found in his garage by police.
Mr Anderson told the jurors that, while they may be appalled at his client for having an affair, adultery was not a crime.
The Crown says both were involved in the planning and were involved in the killing out of a desire to be with each other but they turned on each other when their story unravelled.
The jurors will continue their deliberations tomorrow.
