The man charged with murder and arson after a fatal Wellington hostel fire in 2023 had only been living there for a week when he started the blaze.
The 50-year-old, who’s been granted name suppression, quietly entered not guilty pleas as his trial began at the High Court in Wellington this morning.
His lawyers are expected to rely on the defence of insanity.
Justice Churchman told the jury “that’s the one part of this case where the burden of proof shifts to the defence”.
It’s accepted by all parties that the accused was responsible for lighting the blaze.
In the Crown’s opening address, it laid out how CCTV footage will show the accused lit two fires at Loafers Lodge on May 16, 2023.
“The first fire he lit was under a couch at around 10.30pm. That first fire was discovered and put out by other residents,” said prosecutor Stephanie Bishop.
“About 90 minutes later, shortly after midnight, [the accused] then lit the second fire in a cupboard on the third floor.”
It was that second fire that resulted in the death of five residents – Michael Wahrlich, Melvin Parun, Peter O’Sullivan, Kenneth Barnard and Liam Hockings.
The Crown explained, due to the first fire, the smoke alarms had been silenced and therefore didn’t wake residents during the second blaze.
“Many residents on floors 3 and 4 including the mezzanine floor were unaware of the danger until the smoke entered their rooms,” Bishop said.
She told the court those who died were living on the mezzanine floor.
‘He wanted to live somewhere else’
The Crown argued the accused, who’d only just moved into Loafer’s Lodge at the time, lit the fires because he didn’t like the accommodation.
“After being there for a week, he wanted to live somewhere else,” Bishop told the jury.
The court heard after lighting both blazes, the accused left the premises. After lighting the second fire, he walked into Wellington city from the Newtown hostel.
The prosecutor pointed out “[the accused] did not attempt to alert anyone to the fire and nor did he call emergency services”.
Bishop told the jury it will have to decide whether he “consciously appreciated that by lighting the second fatal fire that someone could die as a result of that fire, even if he did not want that to happen”.
“The Crown says that in the circumstances alleged here, where [the accused] lit a fire in a concealed location shortly after midnight in a crowded boarding house with 84 people inside, he must have known or consciously appreciated that there was a real risk that someone could die as a result.”
She said he knew his actions posed a danger to life, but did it anyway.
The Crown said it was prepared to call evidence to rebut the defence of insanity.
The trial is set down for five weeks, in which time the jury was set to hear evidence from more than 100 witnesses.
It will also be shown a range of CCTV footage and hear 111 calls from the night of the fire.
