'I saw a big shatter': Woman describes gunfire at ute before fatal shot

A woman in a ute at the time of a fatal shooting has described how she tried to find where the victim had been shot to stop the bleeding.

The woman gave evidence today in the trial of Pelikani Taukei’aho and Tauave Rodney Sue, who both deny murdering Doreion Peri Ropata Hard in March last year.

Taukei’aho had been charged as the principal offender and Sue as a party to the murder.

The Crown’s case is Hard was shot after a drug deal in a Fresh Choice supermarket in Featherston went wrong.

It’s alleged Hard and his associates robbed the defendants of the cocaine they had arranged to buy.

Minutes before the shooting, footage shows Hard and his associates arriving in two cars, a red SsangYong ute and a red Mercedes-Benz.

Crown prosecutor Tim Bain.

The woman, who gave evidence in the High Court at Wellington today, confirmed she was in the ute while Hard and an associate were in the Mercedes-Benz.

She said Hard and an associate got out of the Mercedes-Benz and approached a grey Holden from each side.

As the pair opened the Holden’s doors, the ute moved to block the Holden from leaving.

Under questioning from Crown prosecutor Tim Bain, the woman said she heard yelling and thought Hard and his associate were leaning inside the car.

She described chaotic scenes with lots of yelling and said it “it all went real fast”.

By that stage, the woman said she was yelling, wanting everyone to get back in the ute.

She recalls two backpacks being brought to the ute, but said they were never opened and she didn’t see their contents.

Seconds after she pulled Hard into the car, she heard a big bang.

“I think Doreion shot the gun ... all I saw was a big shatter.”

As they fled the carpark, she heard a couple of loud bangs, which she thought were gunshots.

Hard turned to her and said he thought he’d been shot.

The Crown says the fatal shot entered the rear of the ute and struck Hard in the back.

The woman told the court she’d tried to find where he’d been shot to stop the bleeding.

Both had guns under their tops

Under questioning from Taukei’aho’s lawyer Louise Sziranyi, the woman confirmed that when Hard and his associate got out of the Mercedes-Benz, they both had guns under their tops tucked into their pants.

Defence lawyer Louise Sziranyi. Photo / Marty Melville / NZ Herald

She confirmed Hard carried a gun that had black tape on it and looked homemade, while his associate carried a pistol.

She told the court the two walked up to the Holden and opened the doors, but said she didn’t know why they were there and repeatedly told the court she wanted nothing to do with events that day.

She agreed with Sziranyi that she’d told police she thought Hard and his associate had their guns out and were pointing them at the passenger and driver of the Holden.

Later she told the court how the guns and the two backpacks, which were in the ute, were left under grass beside a tree.

Along the way she found another gun on the floor beside her foot. Someone grabbed it and threw it out before an intersection.

The woman said they went to Greytown but found the medical centre was shut and carried on to Carterton, where an ambulance was called to the New World supermarket.

Earlier, the court heard the panicked 111 call from Hard’s friend as they drove from the scene.

He told the call taker his friend had been shot and he was unconscious.

“He’s in a bad way.”

They arranged to meet an ambulance in the New World carpark in Carterton.

The trial before Justice Andru Isac is expected to take five weeks.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.