Angela Blackmoore was found murdered in her Christchurch home in 1995. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
The jury in the Angela Blackmoore murder trial have retired to consider the fate of the two co-accused David Hawken and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum.
The pair have been standing trial at the Christchurch High Court, charged with the murder of the Christchurch woman back in 1995.
A third person, Jeremy Powell, pleaded guilty to the killing in 2020 and received a sentence of life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 10 years.
A pregnant Blackmoore was bludgeoned and stabbed 39 times in her Wainoni home while her two-year-old son slept in a nearby room.
The first trial was abandoned in May after after new material came to hand that lawyers needed time to review.
Powell was previously called as a Crown witness, and told the court Hawken offered him and Wright-Meldrum $10,000 for Blackmoore's murder.
He also alleged that Hawken threatened to kill his family if he did not carry out the murder, and boasted about his gang connections.
Justice Rachel Dunningham summed up the case for the 12 jurors earlier on Wednesday, reminding them to take caution when interpreting historical evidence heard during the trial which had the potential to be "unreliable".
"I want to warn you that there is a particular need for caution in assessing the evidence in this case.
"This is because there has been a delay of 28 years before the events that led to these charges and the charges brought to trial.
"Many of the witnesses admitted to struggle to recall matters because of the time delay.
"Our memories are not like a video recording where you can simply replay them accurately every time you bring them up."
Crown prosecutors have argued that Powell was a "young man who was out of his depth" when he killed Blackmoore.
The defence, meanwhile, submit that there was no motive for the pair to carry and that forensic evidence at the crime scene did not align with Powell's testimony.
