A jury has begun deliberating over whether a man who fatally punched his partner in the head multiple times, then cleaned her and changed her clothes, is guilty of murder or manslaughter.

Richard Mathew Coburn apologised to his unconscious partner and wiped blood from her face after the assault on the evening of July 1 last year.

The 26-year-old has been on trial in the High Court at Hamilton this week fighting a charge of murder after the death of Paige Tutemahurangi.

The pair had argued that Coburn “lost control” and has admitted punching her “three or four times” before cleaning her up, changing her out of her bloodied clothes and into a dressing gown.

He then put her to bed before ringing 111 at 8.38pm.

Police were first to arrive; they noticed the couple’s dinner Tutemahurangi had earlier prepared still sitting on the kitchen bench - one plate covered by a paper towel, and Coburn doing CPR in the spare bedroom.

In sending the jury out to start their deliberations at 2.46pm today, Justice Mary Peters told them their main issue to decide was either whether Coburn intended to kill Tutemahurangi, or whether he knew his actions would cause her death but he continued assaulting her anyway.

If they weren’t sure beyond reasonable doubt, they should find him not guilty of murder - but guilty of manslaughter.

In his closing submissions, defence counsel Roger Laybourn said his client did not have murderous intent that night; the couple had exchanged loving messages just before he returned home after having six or seven beers with his brother, Robert.

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However, he conceded that his client intended to cause Tutemahurangi bodily injury that night, “of course he did”, he said.

The contentious point was that Coburn did not know that his punches would likely cause her death or that he carried on regardless.

“Why would he immediately do everything to try and keep her alive?

“You have heard his voice, his anguish, his distress ... to get emergency services there as soon as possible.”

Coburn had hit her before but there had never been this result.

“Look at the nature of the assault – it’s his fist,” he said, referring to when Coburn punched Tutemahurangi several times in the head in their car at the BP in Taumarunui in January 2021.

“This is a man to his discredit who has punched his partner to the head several times in the past and there has not been [this] consequence.

“It may have caused him to underestimate his actions.

“Coburn then fell into an immediate state of shock at what he’s done.

“His shock at her physical state. She can’t stand up, she’s wobbly.

Paige Tutemahurangi died after an assault at the hands of her partner, Richard Coburn, who denies a murder charge. Photo / LinkedIn.

“He was immediately regretful, he apologised, put on clean clothing, put her on the bed.

“The only common sense conclusion you can come to is that he is trying to keep her alive.”

He instead urged the jury to return a manslaughter conviction.

‘In an angry frame of mind’

Crown solicitor Rebecca Mann said it was not only avoidable that Tutemahurangi lost her life that day, but Coburn being on trial was also avoidable.

“Ms Tutemahurangi died and Mr Coburn is here because of a choice he made, actions he took, deliberate actions, actions with consequences.

“When Richard Coburn struck her repeatedly to the head with his fists and caused her death ... he did so with murderous intent.”

While Coburn told police he hit her “three or four times”, a pathologist testified that he’d found five “impact sites” on Tutemahurangi’s head and he couldn’t tell if one area was hit more than once.

He either did it intentionally or at least to cause her bodily injury in circumstances where he knew his actions could cause her death and he went ahead anyway, she said.

It was unclear how long he waited to call 111 but Mann reminded the jury that St John Ambulance staff noted the blood that remained on Tutemahurangi, after he’d “cleaned” her, had dried.

She also noted that instead of calling 111 immediately, Coburn apologised to her, cleaned her, changed her out of her bloodied clothes and into an ‘Oodie’, a one-piece dressing gown, called a friend on Facebook – who didn’t answer – and then waited a further 5 minutes before calling 111.

However, after calling 111 the first time, at 8.37pm, the line disconnected after three seconds.

He called again, but it immediately disconnected, before he called again about 20 seconds later at 8.38pm.

Mann said it was obvious now that Coburn regretted his actions that night, but “regret after the fact and murderous intent at the time” was different.

“At the material time when Mr Coburn was inflicting those blows ... in an angry frame of mind, as he said he was, after Ms Tutemahurangi’s words ‘get your sh*t and leave’ effectively, at the very least he intended to cause her bodily injury and he knew that there was a real risk ... that it could kill her and he went ahead anyway.

“He struck her and continued to strike her and by doing that he killed her.”

She also asked the jury to take into account the previous incidents of violence involving the couple, for which Coburn had two convictions, along with statements from family who had witnessed Tutemahurangi with black or red eyes before the fatal attack.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and been a journalist for 20.