Anna Browne guilty of murder in pamper party trial

The jury has returned a guilty verdict in the 'pamper party' murder trial in the High Court at Auckland.

Anna Browne, 37, was charged with murdering Carly Stewart after stabbing her to death at a west Auckland nail and eyelash party last October.

Defence lawyer Marie Dyhrberg told the jury Browne didn't deny causing Ms Stewart's death. However, Browne was so affected by drugs and alcohol, the Crown couldn't possibly prove intent beyond reasonable doubt.

Browne claimed she'd taken a variety of drugs and alcohol beforehand, including PCP, methamphetamine, GHB and vodka.

A toxicology report found 223mg of alcohol in Ms Browne's blood and 190mg of alcohol in her urine the day after the October 15 pamper party, but toxicology reports on a urine sample showed no trace of PCP or GHB.

After the incident, Browne claimed she didn't know what had happened and that she wasn't responsible for the attack.

Witnesses later told the court Browne was throwing herself about in a police cell and wasn't making sense when police tried to speak with her.

But prosecutor Nick Webby told the jury of nine women and three men it was a "deliberate and conscious act".

He described how Browne allegedly plunged the knife with so much force it went deep into the side of 36-year-old Ms Stewart's head, and said Browne was coherent enough to find the weapon, a 25-centimetre knife, conceal it, and then strike in an area of her body that could lead to death.

"When you look at her behaviour in the aftermath of that stabbing, all you have is a person who has gone straight into damage control mode, someone who has had to try and mitigate their extreme and deadly behaviour," Mr Webby told the jury.

Newshub.