Exorcism witness sees spirit in court

In an unprecedented courtroom drama, a self-styled "divine healer" has touched the concrete lion statue said to be behind the evil spirit that possessed a young mother, and relayed a spirit's apology to the people accused of her manslaughter.

"He is very emotional and he is apologising to the people over there, to the accused," David McMillan said yesterday after touching the statue and holding his shaking hand above his head.

In a process that took more than a minute in the High Court at Wellington yesterday, he bent over the lion and appeared to touch it before his hand started shaking and one arm rose into the air, supported by his other arm.

His actions appeared to affect the accused, most of whom had their heads bowed as he finished. They left the court in tears.

Mr McMillan was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of nine people charged with the manslaughter of Janet Moses, 22, on October 12, 2007, during an exorcism ceremony in a crowded flat in Wainuiomata. The Crown says she drowned when water was forced into her mouth.

The nine have had name suppression since they were arrested in December 2007, but they are due to be named today.

However, the identities of a man and a woman charged with cruelty to a child will remain secret.

The Crown says the child victim was also made to drink water and her eyes were gouged.

It is alleged that a kaumatua had earlier told the group that the concrete lion, stolen from a Wairarapa pub, was a taonga and had to be returned.

Mr McMillan, a marae handyman, said that, when he spoke to police five days after the death, he believed a demon had killed Ms Moses.

He also wanted to check the girl to see if she was safe.

He saw the lion for the first time in court and asked to approach it. After he had touched it, he said he saw an old Maori man, whose appearance he described, and who had been sick on the lion.

The man apologised to the accused, he said. Mr McMillan told the court he had a gift as a divine healer. He could see spirits and talk to them.

He had been taken to the Wainuiomata flat and blessed the people there, including a dead body under a quilt.

He and others saw the body "flinch", showing that her spirit had been released after being trapped in her body.

Only he could hear the voice of an angry kuia, or female elder, chiding the people in the flat for letting her mokopuna (grandchildren) go hungry and for smoking in front of them.

Then he saw a girl slumped lifeless on a couch. Her eyes were swollen. "I knew that I had to get her out of the house or she would have been the next one to go," he said.

He also insisted the police had to be called to investigate Ms Moses' death. People possessed by spirits could die unless they were treated, he said.

He saw evil spirits in the eyes of the people at the flat, telling them what to do. When he blessed them it opened their eyes.

THE CHARGES

Three men and six women are charged with manslaughter. The Crown alleges they "cleansed" Janet Moses, a disturbed 22-year-old mother of two, ending with her death on October 12, 2007, at Wainuiomata.

The names of the accused, who have pleaded not guilty, are suppressed until today.

A woman and a man are charged with cruelty to a 14-year-old girl.

The defence says the accused wanted to help Ms Moses and the girl remove a makutu or curse. They thought they were doing what the two wanted.

- © Fairfax NZ News