An "extremely strong circumstantial case" should lead the jury in the Ashburton Work and Income shooting trial to the "inescapable conclusion" that double-murder accused Russell John Tully was the balaclava-clad gunman, a court heard today.
Tully, 49, denies being the masked killer who shot and killed two Winz workers, shot and injured a third, and shot at and missed a fourth employee on September 1, 2014.
Identification of the shooter is key to the trial, the High Court double-murder trial in Christchurch has heard.
There is a packed public gallery at High Court 1 in Christchurch today to listen to the Crown sum up its case before the jury on day 10 of the trial.
Accused Tully, who has twice been removed from court for outbursts in front of the jury, is present in court for the closing addresses.
Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh said there can be no issue in this case that a gunman went into the Ashburton Winz office on Cass St that Monday morning, murdered receptionist Peggy Noble, 67, and case manager Susan Leigh Cleveland, 55, and shot at two fellow workers Lindy Curtis and Kim Elizabeth Adams.
The real issue is whether the Crown, who called 73 witnesses, has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the gunman was Tully, the jury was told.
Mr Zarifeh said Crown evidence proving that Tully is the killer was "overwhelming".
He described the Crown's arguments as amounting to "an extremely strong circumstantial case", with a lot of strands of evidence all woven together that lead to the "inescapable conclusion" that Tully is guilty of the shooting spree.
The advantage of such a case, which he describes as "horrific", is that it doesn't rely on human fallibility, Mr Zarifeh said.
Although Tully "has not really engaged in the [court] process", and has not had his own lawyer representing him in court, Mr Zarifeh said that he has had the benefit of two very experienced criminal lawyers, James Rapley and Phil Shamy in court as counsel assisting.
The killer must have had a "motive or grudge" against Winz or Winz staff in Ashburton to carry out the shootings, Mr Zarifeh said, adding that it would be "nonsensical" to suggest otherwise.
That conclusion is confirmed by the fact no members of public were targeted, despite there being people in the public foyer when the gunman stormed in, and Winz client Tristan Gibson was not shot at while hiding under a desk with Ms Curtis.
The evidence suggests that only Tully would have had that deadly grudge with Ashburton Winz staff, Mr Zarifeh said.
CCTV from various shops and businesses around Ashburton show the movements of a cyclist in a green jacket with a distinctive white stripe, black helmet and backpack before he chained his black mountain bike up outside the Cass St Winz office at around 9.50am that day.
The man wearing the same clothes is then seen on security cameras inside the Winz office, firing a gun at staff.
Mr Zarifeh told the jury there was evidence the defendant Tully was seen wearing that "distinctive" green jacket both before the shootings, in the moments afterwards, and when he was apprehended by armed police hiding beneath a thick macrocarpa hedge in a nearby farmer's field seven-and-a-half hours later.
"Why is he hiding inside a hedge? If he had done nothing wrong, why is he hiding?" Mr Zarifeh asked the jury.
"The answer is simple - he's hiding because he is trying to escape after a shooting and he knows that police are looking for him."
An 'inX' sticker, matching ones the Crown says Tully labelled his possessions with, was found on a spent shell casing at the murder scene, which Mr Zarifeh said is a "clear link" between the accused Tully and scene.
"The 'inX' stickers are important," Mr Zarifeh said.
He also highlighted the evidence of forensic scientist and experienced DNA analysis expert Lisa Melia who told the jury that a bike helmet left outside the Winz office by the fleeing gunman had DNA with "extremely strong" scientific evidence linking it to Tully.
It was "five million million" times more likely that it came from Tully instead of another person selected at random from the general New Zealand population, the scientist said.
Mr Zarifeh suggested there was "no doubt" the helmet was Tully's.
The shooter "could only have been" Tully and it would be "ludicrous" to suggest the evidence points to anyone else, he concluded.
Tully has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Noble and Ms Cleveland, and also denies attempting to murder Ms Curtis and Ms Adams and other charges that include two counts of unlawful possession of firearms, and one of setting a man trap.
Justice Cameron Mander this morning told the jury that amicus will make a closing address after the Crown's this morning.
After a lunch break, the judge then plans to sum up the trial for the jury before they can begin their deliberations.
