Murder case: Did Ike Kingi shoot Bob Kleiman accidentally or was it intentional?

The court heard the landlord found Kleiman, 56, dead in the living room the next day. He was lying on his back with one gunshot wound to the right side of his mouth coming from the back of his head.

The Crown said the trio then allegedly came up with the ‘accident story’ that the gun had gone off when Kingi sat down and he had panicked and left.

CCTV footage also captured Jamieson returning to the property, where the Crown alleges he tampered with evidence by placing a mat over a pool of blood and throwing away the firearm.

Farrell allegedly took Kingi north and tried to get two witnesses to retract their statements.

Farrell faces one charge of accessory to murder and two charges of perverting the course of justice. Jamieson is charged with perverting the course of justice.

The trio pleaded not guilty to all charges, with Kingi’s defense team claiming he would never intend to harm a man he considered a friend.

‘Bob asked if I wanted to see the gun’

When Kingi was interviewed by Officer Arvin Broderick, he refused to take a recorded evidentiary interview, instead providing a written statement in the presence of his attorney, Martin Hislop.

Broderick indicated that Kingi was withdrawn and difficult to get along with. The officer read the suspect’s statement to the court.

The statement said Kingi was at the Onerahi home to carry out renovation work as he and Farrell planned to move in.

Kingi said he was inside fiddling with tools when his friend Kleiman arrived. Farrell arrived some time later and Kingi said in his statement that he went outside to kiss their seven-week-old baby.

“I went back into the house and sat on the couch in the living room.

“Bob asked if I wanted to see the gun,” the statement said.

Kingi said he had the gun in his hand and when he turned to sit down, it went off.

“I panicked and looked at where Bob was. I saw that he had a head wound and I knew I couldn’t help him. Only Bob and I were in the house at the time of the incident.”

Broderick said when Kingi was asked who was driving the vehicle that fled the scene, he declined to comment and ended the interview.

The medical evidence

Medical experts said Friday that the fatal shot entered the right corner of Kleiman’s mouth, splattering blood across his right hand and wrist.

Forensic pathologist Charles Glen performed the autopsy on Kleiman and provided evidence as to the nature of the gunshot that led to his death.

Glen said Kleiman’s death would have been almost instantaneous and that the shot had passed through his brain stem, which was unsurvivable.

Glen said there was no soot outside the wound. Instead, it was found in Kleiman’s mouth, indicating that the barrel of the gun made skin contact when it went off.

“When explosions occur, the gunpowder turns to soot and comes out the end of the barrel.

“If we see soot in the wound, that can tell us it was very close,” Glen said.

Glen said there were also several other clues to the weapon’s close range, including the lack of stippling or abrasions on the skin.

“The gun was in contact with his skin when the gun was fired, at the corner of his mouth.”

Glen said Kleiman also had bruises on his stomach, hips and torso, but could not identify when the victim suffered these wounds.

Under cross-examination, Hislop asked Glen if it was possible that the gun’s contact with the skin was brief, to which Glen replied, “Any scenario could be possible.”

Digital images were again taken of the layout of the living room, which showed that the house was largely empty and various items were scattered about.

In the living room, Kleiman’s body lay dead on the floor in front of a desk with a couch behind it.

ESR senior forensic scientist Angus Newton confirmed that the distance from the bench to where Kleiman lay dead on the floor was more than five feet.

Newton also confirmed that Kleiman had blood spatter on his wrist and right hand and confirmed that the bath mat placed on top of the blood near his head was placed there after he was shot.

The trial continues next week.

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.