Guy Richards turned, appearing shocked, before clutching his chest and stumbling up the driveway of his rural Coromandel home seconds after his brother is alleged to have plunged a knife into him.

Guy, 43, would manage to walk several metres before collapsing face first on the ground, as his cousin, Dean Wikaira, yelled at Guy’s brother, Joey Richards, “You’ve stabbed your brother”.

Joey, 46, is on trial in the High Court at Hamilton charged with murder and threatening to kill after Guy’s death on March 18, last year, the day after the brothers had buried their mother.

Joey’s counsel, Christopher Stevenson, told the jury Joey never meant to, or wanted, to kill his brother so shouldn’t be found guilty of murder.

The Richards’ whānau were together on March 17 last year, for the tangi of their kuia Dawn Richards in the small Coromandel settlement of Manaia, where most residents are related or known to each other.

Joey, and others, drank through the night, while Guy went home at midnight before returning about 10am the next day.

Not long after, an argument began between the brothers.

Wikaira and the brothers’ nephew Wiremu Baker were outside and about to leave, when Guy told them to get in his truck, he’d give them a lift.

As Guy drove them to his house a short distance away, Joey also got in his vehicle and followed them.

They parked at Guy’s house and another fight erupted. Crown prosecutor Rebecca Guthrie said Joey plunged a knife into his brother’s chest, fatally wounding him.

Joey fled in his car before crashing off a cliff, landing in a paddock below, suffering critical injuries.

Stevenson said the case was more nuanced than the Crown version.

He agreed Joey had the knife and had struck out at his brother, killing him.

“He didn’t have murderous intent. He didn’t set out to kill his brother.

“He didn’t want or mean for this to happen.”

‘I’m going to kill you next’

Wikaira

recalled the fatal fight for the jury this morning.

Both brothers got out of their vehicles, and Wikaira jumped out of the passenger seat to see the pair trading blows, he said.

He noticed Joey had changed his fighting technique, appearing to use an uppercut-style punch.

Guy was standing and punching Joey’s face, he said.

“I saw Joey going down, I thought he was punching him in the guts but Guy stopped and turned around and looked at me.

“Guy noticed himself that he got stabbed. His whole body changed and he just grabbed his tummy.”

Wikaira said he knew “straight away” his cousin had been hurt.

“I spotted the blood… and I just turned around to Joey and said, ‘You have stabbed your brother’.

“He must have had a knife,” he told Guthrie.

Wikaira said he didn’t see the knife but: “How can someone get stabbed if you don’t have a knife?”

Guy began slowly walking back up the driveway, towards Wikaira.

Joey then told him, “I’m going to kill you next”, Wikaira said to the jury.

“I looked at Guy, Guy was on the ground.

“I was going to go over to Joey and take the knife off him and contain him and then thought, ‘Nah, I can’t do that’.”

As he and Wiremu Baker left to get help from the nearby Manaia Marae, he heard Joey yelling “Get up, Guy, get up, Guy”.

Under questioning from Stevenson, Wikaira said he told Guy as they pulled up into his driveway, not to approach Joey

but he was too late.

‘I could see the life leaving him’

Bakerrecalled getting out of Guy’s vehicle after hearing Wikaira yell, “F***, he’s got a knife”.

“I saw [Guy] clasping [the left side of his chest] and blood was coming out really bad.”

Baker said he froze.

“I couldn’t believe that just happened and I knew that he wasn’t going to make it.”

Joey continued yelling at Guy, “Come on you c***, come on”, then Guy collapsed.

Baker then could see Joey holding the bloodied knife in his hand. He described it as one that you “chop up pumpkin with; with a wide blade and black handle”.

Baker said he “freaked out”.

“I could see the life leaving him.”

A total of 29 witnesses will be called and the trial is set down for three weeks.