Murder of Scott Guy

Scott Guy was shot to death at the gate of the family farm in Feilding, New Zealand in July 2010. Six months later, his brother-in-law, Ewen Macdonald, was charged with the murder. Macdonald was married to Scott Guy's sister Anna, and Scott had been best man at their wedding. Both men managed the Guys' family farm and surrounding properties on Aorangi Road a few miles from Feilding.^[1]

Macdonald was defended by high-profile defence lawyer, Greg King. After a trial that captured the attention of the New Zealand media and public, Macdonald was found not guilty. King attributed the public's interest in the case to "unadulterated racism" as the victim and the accused were "good looking white people".^[2] Two months later, King himself was found dead; the coroner's inquiry ruled his death a suicide.^[3]

Background

The police alleged that Macdonald had held a grudge against Scott after the latter returned from outback Australia in 2008 and said he wanted to inherit the farm. There was an ongoing rivalry between the two. Because of the tension Bryan Guy, Scott's father called a number of family meetings to clear the air. Scott was given responsibility to raise the calves and grow the crops for the cows. Macdonald was given responsibility for the dairy side of the business.^[4] The tension appeared to have subsided and Bryan Guy reported that in the previous 12 months "everyone seemed to be getting along really well." Two weeks before the murder, MacDonald and Scott travelled to Invercargill together for a dairying conference. Nikki Guy, Scott's other sister, said the pair had a "fantastic time".^[5] At the trial, the Crown alleged Scott still wanted to take control of the farm and went to one particular family meeting with an agenda outlining his demands. The prosecutor claimed "this might as well have been his death warrant".^[6]

One of the Guy's former farm workers, Callum Boe, subsequently told police that he and Macdonald used to go on hunting trips they referred to as "missions". He told police that on one mission in October 2008, they torched an old home on Scott's section.^[4] In January, 2009 about 18 months before the murder, they vandalised a home being built by Scott and his wife, Kylee, causing $14,000 worth of damage. At the time no one but Boe and Macdonald knew who was responsible.

The murder

Scott Guy was shot dead at the end of his driveway after he stopped to open a farm gate early in the morning of 8 July 2010. He died from shotgun wounds to his neck, face and arm. His body was discovered by a truck driver, David Berry at about 7.00am. Mr Berry called the police at 7.08am and then called his landlord, Bruce Johnstone. When Johnstone arrived, he took a quick look at the body and phoned Macdonald at 7.16am; two police cars soon arrived and Macdonald arrived on his quadbike shortly after that.^[7] Macdonald immediately rang Scott's father at 7.21am sounding distressed and incoherent.^[8]

The trial

Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk alleged Macdonald closed the farm gates which forced Guy to stop and get out of his vehicle. Vanderkolk said when Guy got out, Macdonald shot him in the throat and then in the face. Police believe the killing occurred at about 4.43am. Defence counsel Greg King said four nearby residents testified they were woken by 'bangs' at about 5am and since Macdonald was seen on the farm at about 5am he could not have been the killer.^[9]

Vanderkolk alleged Macdonald used the farm shotgun and was wearing size 9 Proline dive boots while committing the crime. Macdonald allegedly then rode his bicycle back to the farm which was 1.46 km away arriving just after 5am where he was milking the cows. Vanderkolk said Macdonald tried to make it look like a robbery by killing three Labrador puppies which were kept in a shed near the house. Police excavated some of the property where Macdonald lived looking for the dive boots, the dead puppies and the shotgun cartridges but found nothing.^[10]

Defence counsel, Greg King, questioned forensic expert David Neale about the size of the footprints found at the scene. Neale told the Court there were more than 50 footprints next to Guy's body—and they were all made by size 9 Proline boots. King said the 33 wavy rows on the plaster impressions of the boots presented by the police were not compatible with size 9. King also challenged prosecution evidence about the shotgun. Crown witnesses told the Court they heard three shots in succession but King called an American shooting champion as an expert witness. This witness said it was not possible for the farm shotgun to be fired that quickly and suggested a semi-automatic weapon had been used.^[10]

King also said a car seen near the house matched one stolen by an offender with a history of shotgun crimes. He also questioned other aspects of the prosecution's case, "including the theft of shotguns in the area, a string of local burglaries, and a man who smelled of alcohol and cigarettes who came looking for Mr Guy at his old home days before his death".^[9]

The verdict

The high-profile case took the attention of the public for nearly two years. The trial lasted four weeks and was scrutinised in detail by the media. During the trial, the public gallery was usually full with up to 100 people sometimes lined up outside hoping to get a glimpse of the proceedings.^[11]

The jury deliberated for 11 hours and found Macdonald not guilty. After a short break Justice Simon France remanded Macdonald for a sentencing date on other charges.^[11] The jury were not told about these charges as the judge said they would have been prejudicial to a fair trial.^[12]

A year later, Scott's father, Bryan Guy insisted that justice had prevailed. He said he didn't want the case to drag on for years without being solved and made a plea to his son's killer to give himself up.^[13]

Subsequent events

There were a number of other outstanding charges. In June 2007 Macdonald and Callum Boe killed 19 calves belonging to a farmer who had caught them poaching his deer. Macdonald was also convicted for burning down an old whare (Maori hut) and emptying thousands of dollars' worth of milk from a vat on another neighbour's farm. These acts were committed against the farmers "for retribution" after Macdonald and Boe were trespassed from their farms. Anna Macdonald testified at the murder trial that her husband's relationship with Boe was 'immature', and she was unaware of what they were doing on their regular night "missions". When police found out about these missions, they visited Callum Boe who by this time had moved to Queenstown. Boe admitted to his involvement and, in the process, provided police with an insight into Macdonald's behaviour. They arrested Macdonald and charged him with the murder soon afterwards.^[14]

In September 2012, Macdonald was jailed for five years. He was eligible to attend his first parole hearing in December 2012.^[15] On 3 November 2012, Macdonald's well known lawyer Greg King was found dead in Wellington. The finding of the coroner, released in October 2013, was that the death had been a suicide.^[3]

In November 2014, it was reported that Macdonald had been denied parole a third time and his term of imprisonment may run until completion of sentence on 6 April 2016.^[16]

On 16 October 2015, it was announced that Macdonald was granted parole at his fourth appearance before a parole board on 13 October. Macdonald was freed from prison on 2 November 2015 and is subject to strict terms of parole.^[17]

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