Sergio Williams murder trial: Guilty verdict in murder of pensioner Herbert Bradley in Auckland flat

The trial heard escalating tensions at the Upper Queen Street flat reached a fever pitch after Bradley told Williams he was not welcome.

Bradley, who is remembered as a kind, generous and hospitable character with a colorful past, invited Williams to stay for a few days at his Uptown Apartments flat overlooking the Symonds St cemetery when his car broke down.

This few-day stay turned into several weeks, during which Williams invited a woman he met on Facebook to stay at the apartment.

The defense team, consisting of Lorraine Smith, Sarah Hames and Philip Hamlin, said the level of force Williams used was proportionate and argued that he should be acquitted on the grounds of self-defence.

Lawyers said the death was a tragic accident that occurred after a desperate struggle over the knife.

The Crown, represented by Rebekah Thompson and Claire Paterson, argued Williams used force beyond what was reasonable in self-defence against a man twice his age, unsteady on his feet and suffering from cognitive decline.

Williams was initially charged with murder along with Sophie Rutland, a young woman who was struggling with a methamphetamine problem and flew to Auckland from the South Island to stay with him a few weeks ago.

The trial heard he and Williams smoked meth together several times during the three weeks they lived in Auckland.

After spending several months in prison, Rutland agreed to cooperate with the police. His charge was dropped before trial when he agreed to testify for the prosecution.

During his evidence, delivered via video link from Christchurch, Rutland said that during a struggle between the men over the knife, both men’s hands were on the handle of the knife when it entered Bradley’s neck up to the hilt.

Some aspects of his evidence tended to support self-defence.

But pathology evidence showed three stab wounds rather than what Rutland described, the Crown said, suggesting that loyalty to Rutland may have led to omissions or inaccuracies in his account.

Towards the end of his testimony, as his behavior became increasingly erratic, Rutland asked if he could speak to Williams and was heard saying, “I hope he’s okay.”

The prosecution argued that the 9.5 cm stab wound on a person’s neck, which cut his carotid artery, did not occur accidentally.

Paterson said Williams disarmed Bradley before inflicting a deep stab wound in retaliation for Bradley coming at him with a knife.

Hamlin argued that his client’s actions were defensive, not aggressive or retaliatory.

He said it was Bradley who took the knife to the fight and attacked Williams at least twice.

Security cameras at the Uptown Apartments showed Williams and Rutland fleeing the scene and stepping over his body as he left his apartment, bleeding from an artery in his neck, to seek help as he lay dying in the hallway.

The Crown argued that Williams’ failure to provide assistance indicated that this action was a sign that the murder was not a tragic accident.

Judge Jane Anderson summed up the case to the jury of six men and six women, warning against inferring guilt from the defendant’s behavior after the murder.

Judge Anderson said the Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Williams did not act in self-defence and did not use reasonable force.

The judge said the jury should have found him not guilty if prosecutors had not ruled out that possibility.

About three hours after deliberations began, the jury asked what it meant to use reasonable force in the context of self-defense permitted by law. The judge had previously told them that the law does not give carte blanche to use the amount of force necessary in self-defence and that it must be proportionate.

Answering the question, Judge Anderson said the question was not whether Williams believed the force was reasonable. Instead, it was up to the jury to decide whether the duress was reasonable.

About an hour later, the jury returned with a note saying no verdict could be reached. Judge Anderson urged jurors to keep trying but said an 11-1 majority verdict could be given if they could not reach a verdict.

Williams was recorded in phone calls from prison telling friends, “The guy was trying to kill me.”

He bragged to his friends about his fighting skills and admitted that he was unable to help the old man, but always said it was self-defense after Bradley attacked him with a knife.

“He tried, I survived,” Williams told a friend.

In another phone call to his mother, he stated that in the movies, people who kill others in self-defense are congratulated and comforted with a warm blanket, and asked why he was being blamed.

“If he had come at me with a fist, it would have been just a fist fight.”