Accused hit Blessie Gotingco with car before murder, court told

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

The man who allegedly killed Blessie Gotingco purposely hit her with his car while she walked home, before abducting, raping and murdering her, according to crown prosecutors.  

Pathology evidence showed Gotingco received multiple deadly injuries as the result of being strangled, stabbed and having her throat slit. 

Harrowing details of Gotingco's 'violent and awful death' can be revealed for the first time after prosecutor Michael Walker began his opening address at the High Court at Auckland for the trial of the man accused of her murder. 

The court heard the 56 year-old was just 100 metres away from her Birkdale home after being dropped off at a nearby bus stop on the evening of May 24 last year.  

She had worked overtime at Tower Insurance at the CBD and took the bus home. 

Walker said on her way home from the bus stop Gotingco was purposely run down by the accused, who is then alleged to have bundled her into his car and driven her to his nearby apartment complex where it's alleged she was sexually violated and killed. 

'The defendant parked his car in a downstairs garage at the apartment complex (and) soon after he arrived at the house, raped Mrs Gotingco,' Walker said. 

'He then set about attacking her. His frenzied attack including strangling her, slitting her throat, then stabbing her multiples times with a knife, resulting in her death.

' A small, petite woman already injured from the assault with the car stood no chance.' 

FORENSIC EVIDENCE

The court heard the accused was subject to GPS monitoring and his tracked movements put him at the Eskdale Cemetery prior to Gotingco's death, the inference of which Walker said could only be that the murder was premeditated. 

Gotingco's body was later found in scrub at the cemetery.

A bloodied knife which DNA testing linked to Gotingco was taken from the accused's apartment and sperm recovered from her body and her clothing was also forensically linked to the accused, Walker said. 

Luminol testing revealed traces of blood in the defendant's car, including the backseat.  

Other items of interest were found in his wheelie bin. 

The court was silent while Walker described Gotingco's death and shortly afterward family members, including Gotingco's husband Antonio, got up and left the court room. 

The pair's two children will be the first to give evidence during the trial, expected to detail when they first realised their mother was missing. 

Walker said a Find my Iphone app had lead the pair to discover their mother's belongings on the footpath near the front of their suburban home.

The man accused of Gotingco's death has interim name suppression throughout the duration of the trial, however Justice Timothy Brewer took the unusual step of allowing media to publish photographs of the accused. 

The court was filled with Blessie's friends and family, as well as members of the Birkdale community, all wearing green pins- Blessie's favourite colour- as a token of support. 

The turnout was so great there weren't enough chairs available and supporters had to stand at the back of the courtroom. 

During a recession the group joined hands outside to form a human chain of strength. 

The trial is expected to last between two and three weeks. 

The man accused of her murder and sexual violation has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has interim name suppression for the trial's duration.  

Her death shocked the tight-knit community where she lived.

Candle light vigils were held in her honour in the weeks afterward.

The accused is represented by criminal barristers Chris Wilkinson-Smith and Kevin Brosnahan.