The man who murdered Constable Matthew Hunt in Massey last June has been found guilty of the attempted murder of another police officer who was injured that day.
It was a majority verdict, meaning jurors couldn't come to a unanimous decision after eleven-and-a-half hours.
Eli Epiha has been on trial at the High Court at Auckland for the attempted murder of Constable David Goldfinch who was injured with four bullets.
Jurors began deliberating on Monday, and on Tuesday morning, after almost nine hours of deliberation they returned to the court to advise Justice Geoffrey Venning they could not reach a unanimous verdict. Justice Venning then directed they could instead reach a majority verdict of eleven jurors in agreement.
Shortly afterwards, the jurors came back unable to reach a majority decision. However, Justice Venning asked them to keep trying to come to either a unanimous or majority decision.
On Tuesday afternoon, the jury returned with a majority verdict of guilty of attempted murder.
He will be sentenced for both the attempted murder and murder convictions on October 1.
June 19 2020, a shooting in West Auckland
Constable Matthew Hunt was killed after being shot in Massey's Reynella Drive while carrying out routine road policing duties in June 2020.
The officer, a member of Wing 312, was in his second week of policing in a new Auckland team.
The shooting, which also injured Matthew Hunt's partner that day, Constable David Goldfinch, sparked a police search for the gunman.
Eli Epiha was found and arrested later that day.
Earlier this month, just days before his trial was due to begin, Epiha pleaded guilty to Constable Matthew Hunt's murder, as well as a charge of dangerous driving causing injury to a member of the public.
When entering his plea to murder, Epiha said.
"I plead guilty to reckless discharge causing death."
Justice Venning reminded Epiha he was pleading to a charge of murder, and he responded with a thumbs up before entering his guilty plea.
He also pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing injury to a member of the public.
But he denied the attempted murder of the other officer who was wounded that day, Constable David Goldfinch.
Goldfinch gives evidence
During the trial, Constable David Goldfinch was called as a Crown witness.
He told the court he had locked eyes with Epiha that day, and thought he was going to die.
Goldfinch said he and Constable Hunt had been parked on Massey's Triangle Road, when a vehicle came through an intersection "way too fast".
When they caught up with the car, it had crashed.
"All of a sudden we saw there was just smoke and debris all over the road," Constable Goldfinch told the court.
Goldfinch said he got out of his police car because he thought the driver might have been injured, but he only managed a few steps before he saw Eli Epiha walk around the side of the car with a firearm he said looked like an AK47.
"I said f****n stop bro, put the f****n gun down, words to that effect, I yelled it at him," he told the court.
Constable Goldfinch said it was then that the gunman pointed the firearm and began to shoot.
He said at that point, he tried to take cover behind a car.
"It was kind of like a cat and mouse thing."
"I think he was trying to get a clean shot at me," Goldfinch said.
He told the court he again spoke to the gunman, saying, "Just f*****g stop, just f*****g walk away I won't arrest you," but Goldfinch said the gunman kept shooting.
"It's that flash of like, this is where I die," he told the court.
Goldfinch described the bullets that hit him that day as, "just that incredible pain of like someone had thrown a bomb of acid at you."
The Constable told the court he managed to run down a driveway and around the back of a house, where he radioed for help, before jumping the fence and running further away.
After being assisted by a member of the public he said he saw more police arriving in the area.
"All of a sudden I just saw one of my colleagues come over a hill with a rifle and once I saw one I saw 20 police officers and then I just collapsed."
Eli Bob Sauni Epiha
Eli Epiha, 25, elected to give his own evidence about the shooting.
He told the court on the morning of June 19 last year, he had received a phone call from a relative.
"That's where it all started," he told the court.
Epiha said on the phone he was told gang members were on the way to a family house, so he went to pick up a gun, and was given two.
"I decided the norinco was the gun I was going to use to scare those gang members away from my family house," he said.
It was later used to kill Constable Matthew Hunt.
Epiha told the court after he had picked up the guns, he noticed a marked police car, and he didn't want to engage with police, so he sped off.
But he crashed into a parked vehicle on Reynella Drive.
Moments later the police car arrived, and Constable David Goldfinch got out.
"It was too late to gap it. "
"..he said something to me, he said something like 'Police, Stop, Show your hands', or something like that.
"I reached back into the car and grabbed the closest gun and I showed him my hands and then he said Oh f**k drop the f*****g gun.
"He was getting too close and yelling at me so I gave him a warning shot. I pointed it away from him and I fired a shot," Epiha said.
When Epiha gave his evidence to the court, he said if he had wanted to kill Constable Goldfinch that day, he could have.
He also spoke about Constable Matthew Hunt,
"...I've already pleaded guilty to the unintentional murder of Mr Hunt and I'm very, very sorry to his family."
Natalie Bracken
Natalie Bracken has also been on trial, charged with being an accessory after the fact of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, by allegedly driving Epiha from the shooting to enable him to avoid arrest.
On Tuesday, the jury also found her guilty. She will sentenced also on October 1.
During the trial, her defence told the court that Bracken didn't know Epiha.
She had been staying at an address on Reynella Drive, and ran out onto the street when she heard the sound of Epiha’s car crash.
"She thought she was doing the right thing, all the way through," said Bracken's lawyer Adam Couchman.
"The right thing was helping people," he said.
"She is standing looking at this man who has got a firearm and this man with the firearm is saying get me the f**k out of here."
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster's statement
"Police note both the earlier guilty plea for the murder of Constable Matt Hunt and the guilty verdict for the attempted murder of Constable Dave Goldfinch during a traffic stop in Massey in June 2020.
"Epiha also admitted dangerous driving causing injury to a member of the public.
"We also note the guilty verdict for Natalie Bracken who was charged with being an accessory after the fact in relation to the wounding of Constable Matt Hunt.
"I want to acknowledge Matt’s family and friends, particularly his mum Diane and sister Ellie, who have spent two weeks listening to extremely painful and harrowing details of Matt’s death.
"They have shown immense strength despite the fact they are still in the midst of their grief and mourning the loss of their much-loved son and brother.
"The guilty verdict for the attempted murder of Constable Dave Goldfinch is a relief for him and his family – their journey to recover from what has happened continues and we will support them through this.
"Dave has shown incredible strength throughout this process and we saw this when he gave his evidence recounting what happened to him and Matt on that tragic day.
"I also want to acknowledge the investigation team and the Crown Prosecutors whose dedication and professionalism led to the earlier guilty plea and the outcome today.
"Lastly, I would just like to acknowledge the officers who continue to serve our communities across New Zealand and work every day to keep them safe.
"Matt’s murder and the attempted murder of Dave has affected us all, particularly our frontline officers and I know that this has impacted Matt and Dave’s colleagues in the Waitematā District particularly hard. This trial has been a brutal reminder of the inherent risks and potential danger that Police officers face every day, and so I want to thank all my staff for their commitment, and continued bravery to do the best possible job every day to protect our communities.
"I am incredibly proud of the work they do.
"I am limited in what I can say at this time due to the matter still being before the Courts, but I will be able to comment further following sentencing."
Police Association statement
"The Police Association thanks the jury in the Eli Epiha trial for carrying out their difficult duty and finding the defendant guilty of attempting to murder Constable David Goldfinch.
"Epiha, who had already admitted to the murder of Constable Matthew Hunt during the same incident in June 2020, didn’t dispute firing at Goldfinch, but maintained he was trying to scare away the constable.
"Association President Chris Cahill says it was particularly harrowing for those connected to the officers, and many others throughout New Zealand, to listen to the facts of this case as they laid bare the extent of the violence perpetrated against officers Hunt and Goldfinch.
"'The cold, calculated and deliberate murder of Matt, and the attempted murder of Dave were clearly demonstrated, as was Epiha’s intent and lack of remorse,' Mr Cahill says.
"'It was nothing short of disgusting to witness Epiha’s attempt to shift the blame away from himself.'
"Mr Cahill says it now rests with the judge to deliver a sentence which reflects the condemnation New Zealanders expect.
"'This verdict and future sentencing will not bring back Matt, it won’t heal David’s injuries, and it will not make their fellow officers any safer.'
"'What it will do, however, is send a very clear message to police officers who take enormous risks in their daily job, that they are valued.'"
