'I'm so sorry': Woman accused of fatally stabbing friend's partner with a beer bottle

WARNING: This article details graphic violence and may upset some readers.

The night was meant to be drinks and a friend meeting her mate’s partner for the first time.

Hours later, that partner lay dying from a stab wound to the neck delivered by the protective friend with a beer bottle.

“I’m so sorry, I just didn’t like the way he was speaking to you,” were the words allegedly said by Audrey Hineteau Thompson, who is accused of murdering Arthur Tahere.

Thompson is defending a murder charge in a trial which began today in the High Court at Whangārei, following the incident in Kaitāia in 2024.

The court has heard that Tahere, 22, of West Auckland, had been in an on-and-off relationship with Kaitāia woman Summer Howard for a year and a half.

In March 2024, Howard was pregnant with Tahere’s baby, but they had broken up, and she went to Kaitāia to support her sister and her new baby.

Howard ended up staying in Kaitāia and had their son in July when Tahere first came up to meet their baby.

The couple got back together, and Tahere returned to Auckland.

In Crown lawyer Geraldine Kelly’s opening to the jury, she said Howard and Thompson had been friends for around five years and they would often speak about frustrations in their relationships.

“Audrey Thompson had never met Arthur Tahere before September 7 but she knew of him,” Kelly said.

On September 7, 2024, Tahere travelled to Kaitāia to visit Howard and their son.

That morning, Thompson, who was 29 at the time, visited Howard with croissants and coffee and they talked about their relationships.

While she was there, Tahere texted Howard to say he was on his way to Kaitāia.

Thompson left the address and returned later that evening with an 18-pack of 7% KGB RTDs. Other family members of Howard’s were also at the address drinking.

Tahere arrived between 9 and 10pm, spent some time with Howard and their son, and then socialised with everyone.

The Crown said that at some point, the couple began arguing and Thompson was watching from the side.

Kelly said Howard would later give evidence at the trial that Thompson had her hoodie up and was looking “staunch as”.

The Crown said the bickering didn’t stop and Howard headed inside and up the stairs after being told their son was awake.

“All of a sudden, Audrey Thompson said something, picked up and smashed a beer bottle, raised her hand and, in a fast motion, connected to the right side of Arthur Tahere’s neck,” Kelly told the jury.

Kelly said Tahere held his neck while Howard immediately ran to him.

She applied pressure to the wound and another witness tried to stop the bleeding with a jersey, saturating it with blood within seconds.

Tahere was driven to Kaitāia Hospital, but within a minute of arriving, he became unresponsive.

He was pronounced dead on September 8 at 12.13am.

The Crown said that after the stabbing, Thompson remained behind and reportedly said: “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. I just didn’t like the way he was speaking to you”.

The trial is being heard before Justice Natalie Walker. Photo / NZME

The Crown said that when Thompson was arrested and interviewed, she admitted what she had done, but claimed it was in self-defence.

“I stabbed him and then I stabbed him in the neck. I stabbed him again and then let go and no one moved. It was like time stood still. There was blood everywhere,” Kelly said Thompson told police.

“I just wanted him to stop. He needed to stop being threatening, threatening both of us,” Thompson reportedly said in her evidential interview, which will be played to the jury.

Kelly told the jury the defendant agreed she knew the likely outcome of her actions was death.

“Because of Audrey Thompson’s actions, she now stands trial before you on the charge of murdering Arthur Tahere,” Kelly said.

But defence lawyer Katy Barker said that while Thompson accepted she stabbed Tahere, there were two issues – whether there was murderous intent and whether it was an unlawful act.

“This is not a whodunnit,” Barker said in her opening.

“In New Zealand, every person is justified in using force to defend themselves.

“Was this an act of self-defence?”

Barker told the jury they needed to put themselves in Thompson’s shoes.

“She was outside; it was nighttime, it was dark, there were people who had been drinking and a confrontation between her good friend and Mr Tahere,” Barker said.

“Can the Crown prove beyond reasonable doubt that Ms Thompson was not acting in self-defence? She doesn’t have to prove it; they have to disprove it.”

Twenty witnesses are expected to give evidence at the three-week trial before Justice Natalie Walker.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.