'Cursed' daughter behaved strangely

Last updated 05:00 08/05/2009

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CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post Zoom

Hall Jones Wharepapa, 46, is jointly charged with the manslaughter of Janet Moses.

KENT BLECHYNDEN/The Dominion Post

EXPERT OPINION: John Rutherford told the court that Ms Moses' death was the first case he had seen of drowning other than by total immersion in water.

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The mother of a woman who police say drowned in a ritual to rid her of demons has described her daughter's strange behaviour in the days beforehand.

Olivia Rawiri said her daughter Janet Moses, 22, would point, though Ms Rawiri could not see what she was pointing at.

"Evil spirits she could see, I suppose. I'm not sure," she told the High Court at Wellington yesterday.

She was giving evidence at the trial of nine people charged with Ms Moses' manslaughter including five of Ms Rawiri's sisters and one of her brothers.

In early October 2007 Ms Moses was not responding when spoken to. About 20 family members stayed at the one-bedroom flat where Ms Moses' grandfather lived trying to support her.

A healer or tohunga was taken to the flat in Wainuiomata and he said she had a curse on her that was linked to a taonga, a concrete lion statue, that had been taken from a Wairarapa hotel and kept at the flat, Ms Rawiri said.

About eight carloads of family members returned the lion to the hotel but Ms Moses did not improve and started talking "mumbo jumbo".

The healer said he had removed two of the "claws" in Janet but one remained. He blessed her with a small amount of water, Ms Rawiri told the court.

She will continue giving evidence today.

The number of jurors dropped to 11 at the start of yesterday's session, but Justice Simon France suppressed the reasons for the juror leaving the case.

The remaining jurors went on to hear evidence from pathologist John Rutherford who said he was sure Ms Moses drowned.

He said that well over 100 of the more than 5000 autopsies he had performed were drowning cases, but Ms Moses' was the first case he had seen of drowning other than by total immersion in water. He found no reference to another similar case in scientific publications.

He saw bruises and grazes on Ms Moses' upper eyelids. It looked like pressure had been applied to her upper jaw. Some of the nine puncture marks on her face seemed to be in pairs. Her arms and torso were bruised. The pattern of her injuries was consistent with a struggle or with her having been held down.

He agreed it was possible for shock or fright to bring on death in people who were already ill but he could not recall an otherwise healthy young person dying that way. He was sure Ms Moses had drowned.

THE ACCUSED, THE CHARGES

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Nine members of Janet Moses' extended family are charged with her manslaughter, which the Crown alleges was the result of an attempt to remove a curse a makutu or evil spirit.

The accused are: John Tahana Rawiri, 49, Georgina Aroha Rawiri, 50, Aroha Gwendoline Wharepapa, 48, Hall Jones Wharepapa, 46, Tanginoa Apanui, 42, Angela Rangiaroha Orupe, 46, Gaylene Tangiohorere Kepa, 44, Alfred Hughes Kepa, 48, and Glenys Lynette Wright, 52. All are siblings of Ms Moses' mother, or their partners.

Two people, whose names are suppressed, are charged with cruelty to a 14-year-old girl in their care.

The charges date from October 12, 2007, at Wainuiomata, when the Crown alleges Ms Moses and others were subjected to a water-based ceremony resulting in Ms Moses drowning.

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