A friend of a Dunedin man stabbed more than 40 times has described finding his unresponsive body soaked in blood.
Gurjit Singh, 27, was found stabbed to death in what appeared to be an attempted decapitation on the lawn of his Dunedin home in January last year.
The 35-year-old man accused of the murder, who is listed in court documents only as Rajinder, is on trial at the High Court at Dunedin.
The defence has insisted Rajinder had no reason to kill his former employee and there was no animosity between the two men, but the Crown said Rajinder’s DNA was found throughout the murder scene.
Singh’s friend Dhruval Aery told the court that he went to Singh’s home after receiving multiple panicked messages from a mutual friend.
They were on the phone while he arrived, finding his friend on the ground outside, unresponsive and bleeding from multiple injuries, he said.
“I think he is dead.”
He was questioned why he thought that, saying: “Oh, the condition he was in and he was soaked in blood.”
He called 111, and described getting blood on his hands after being told to do compressions.
The two men had lived together a couple of times, and Singh – who was a technician – had employed him full time from about July 2023.
Earlier that year, Aery said Singh had travelled back to India and got married.
Aery said the last time he saw him alive was at the pizza party in Helensburgh on the night of January 28, 2024.
Singh had arrived late, wearing a turban, red hoodie and jeans.
He was in a good mood and they shook hands before Singh left about 10.30pm.
Aery messaged Singh the next morning at about 7am, asking if he could have his concrete cutter back and how to start it.
He got no response.
He had a cup of tea with another friend who left the house about 8.30am.
About 10 minutes later, the same friend messaged, asking him to check on Singh.
He agreed to go, telling the court he was not rushing until his friend kept messaging.
He sounded more panicked and said he had been called by Gurjit Singh’s wife who had not been able to reach him for three hours, Aery said.
His friend said he and Singh used to exchange funny videos when they woke up, but he had gotten nothing.
His friend called just as he was getting out of the van.
The lawn was obscured by a hedge, but when he walked through the gate he saw Singh on his back on the ground.
“I can tell that he is no more,” Aery said.
He told his friend and then hung up to call 111, telling the operator he believed he had been assaulted with a big cut on his throat.
Singh was wearing the same clothes as he was the night before, but he did not have his turban on.
He told the court he was scared to go near the his friend’s bloodied body, before talking to police when emergency services arrived.
He volunteered to do a DNA test.
Aery said he had visited Rajinder, who was also a technician, the day before to borrow some equipment as he was going to start to work for him as a contractor.
It was about a week later that he called him, saying that he could not work as his van was impounded as it was at the murder scene.
He told defence lawyer Anne Stevens KC that he approached Rajinder for a job in January 2024, describing him as polite and respectful but not part of the same friend group.
Earlier in the day, former Downer regional operations manager Matthew Stewart told the court the two men were sub-contractors, as Downer had a contract with Chorus to install fibre.
He described Singh as a high performer who got through a lot of work and said Rajinder had no work issues and also got through a lot of work.
Earlier, prosecutor Robin Bates said Rajinder left DNA evidence at the scene including hair and multiple blood stains around the house.
“The post mortem indicated that the deceased died from multiple sharp force injuries, at least 46 in total, including a large inevitably fatal wound to the neck which gave the impression of attempted decapitation,” Bates said.
There were wounds to the victim’s head, neck, torso and arms.
The defendant and victim had moved from India to New Zealand some years ago, and ended up working as contractors in Dunedin by 2023.
Singh had originally worked for Rajinder before going out on his own and purchasing one of Rajinder’s vans, Bates said.
The house was examined with blood found in multiple spots across the dining room, lounge, outside steps and on the walls.
A large window was broken with glass shards on the ground.
Bates said some blood samples from the scene indicated it was the defendant’s DNA and blood stains found in the defendant’s vehicle matched the victim’s DNA.
“Numerous blood stains, but in particular those from the carpet in the dining room area, from the back of a curtain, on the couch in the lounge, a wall area, a pavement and the roadway corresponded with the defendant’s reference DNA profile,” he said.
Rajinder first told police he did not know about the death and had taken his wife for a driving lesson about midnight for about an hour on the night in question, Bates said.
The interviewing police officer asked him about a cut on his left hand between his thumb and forefinger and Rajinder said it happened when a chain came loose on a chainsaw.
But a few days later when he was interviewed again, Bates said Rajinder told police he had lied and it was from a bike accident, but he did not go to the hospital because it would take too long and then he got scared he might be connected to the death.
When confronted about blood containing his DNA being found at the scene, he said it was impossible and denied killing Singh, Bates said.
A piece of glove from a pair Rajinder had bought around the time of the murder was also found at the scene, Bates said.
A knife and neck gaiter he had bought from Hunting and Fishing around the same time could not be found.
His clothing from the night was also not found.
Defence lawyer Katy Barker said Rajinder did not kill Singh and there was no enmity or animosity between them.
The defence accepted Singh was murdered and whoever attacked him must have had murderous intent, but it was not Rajinder, Barker said.
There was no grievance between the two and they had a good relationship, she said.
Rajinder had built a good life in Dunedin and it did not make sense for him to blow it up, Barker said.
The trial is set down for three weeks.
rnz.co.nz
