Who Killed Scott Guy? (30 page)

At 3.55 pm the court was ready.

Justice France had returned and asked those present to restrain any reactions they may have to the verdict, despite it being an understandably emotional time. Ewen Macdonald was brought up from the cells and, shortly afterwards, the jury filed in, the foreman the last to emerge.

Kerry Macdonald was staring straight at them and noticed some jurors looking right back at him. ‘That’s a good sign,’ he thought. ‘Nobody could look at the parents of the accused if they were going to hang him.’ Leaning over, he whispered to Marlene, ‘They’re smiling.’

‘No, they’re not,’ his wife replied curtly, clutching a small wooden cross, her heart pounding.

What happened next happened quickly, and for most who were there was difficult to entirely take in. The foreman was asked to stand and registrar Sarah Perano asked him if the jury had reached a unanimous verdict. He replied they had.

‘Do you find the accused guilty or not guilty?’

This was the moment everyone had waited for and so many had visualised over the last year. For Schwalger and her team it was the culmination of everything they’d worked towards for the last two years since Scott was killed. For the Guys it was the chance to stamp some finality on their family’s tragedy. For King and the defence team it was the moment where they found out if they’d done their job sufficiently well. For Ewen Macdonald and his family it was the point at which they discovered how the rest of their lives would pan out.

Standing at the front right of the jury box, in the space nearest the judge, the foreman ended the suspense. ‘Not guilty,’ he said quickly but decisively.

In the middle of the defence bench, Liam Collins, who’d spent most of his waking hours since November working on the case, couldn’t help himself and pumped his left fist—a gesture he badly regretted later but which was a forgivable release of tension at the trial’s climax. Marlene Macdonald crumpled into Kerry and sobbed. Across the aisle, tears born from mixed emotions trickled down Anna Macdonald’s face as her father put his arm around her and comforted her. Ewen Macdonald appeared to be on the verge of collapse. He grasped the dock to steady himself and was supported by prison officers.

Perano asked if all the jury members were agreed and the foreman confirmed they were. She had just thanked him and asked him to be seated and Justice France was beginning to speak when Kylee Guy, sitting several rows back in the public gallery, screamed out, ‘He killed my husband.’

It was as if it had taken a few seconds for the foreman’s words to register; perhaps she had been unable to comprehend what she’d heard, convinced as she was that Macdonald had gunned down her husband. But when she did realise what had happened, her cries were visceral and frightening, a howl of disbelief and horror as she burst from the courtroom, clutching Scott’s cowboy hat, repeating over and over, ‘He killed my husband.’

Even as the judge was thanking the jury for their application and efforts throughout the lengthy trial, the news of the verdict was spreading quickly, the first stories being hastily written and filed from the courtroom.

When the court broke for 15 minutes, the Macdonald family made a quick escape, chased by reporters desperate for comment. Greg King had warned them it would be bedlam whatever the verdict and to get out straight away. So with camera crews in pursuit, they walked smartly down Molesworth Street until they found a taxi and were bundled into it by their friend Paul.

King had remained impassive as the verdict was delivered, and his first move afterwards was to head straight down to see Macdonald in the court cells where he’d been taken. Macdonald was completely in tears. One by one, King, Coles and Collins hugged him while Macdonald continued to cry.

‘He was very emotional,’ recalled King. ‘Exactly what you’d expect. He was just really, really relieved. It was a really special time—just me, Liam, Peter and Ewen. We were the defence team and Ewen was a big part of it—a huge part of it. The fact that he didn’t give evidence doesn’t mean that he didn’t have any part in his defence.’

When the court reconvened, Justice France remanded Macdonald in custody to await sentencing on the charges he’d admitted and previously pleaded guilty to. He lifted some suppression orders, thanked counsel and then left the court for the final time. It was 4.30 pm and the trial was officially over.

But beyond the courtroom, its dissection had just begun. Outside the room in the court’s foyer where Kylee had been taken, members of her family gathered, shaking their heads in disbelief. After two years of being promised Scott’s killer would be brought to justice, and having shared police confidence for a year that they had arrested the right man and had the evidence to prove it, the shock of Macdonald’s acquittal was staggering.

Bryan Guy led his family out of the court to the media contingent, who’d gathered and set up a bank of microphones along the pavement outside the court. He clutched Anna’s hand while Jo held her arm. Behind them stood their other children, Nikki and Callum, all of them still coming to terms with the verdict. Bryan Guy then read a statement that provided a sad and poignant endpoint for the family’s own trial. He’d prepared three versions—one for guilty, one for not guilty, one for no verdict—knowing that the media and country would want to hear something from him.

‘Our family have been overwhelmed by the support and love and caring of New Zealanders,’ he began, looking directly at the cameras. ‘The support and prayers of friends and strangers alike in our local community and throughout New Zealand have given us strength and courage. We are forever grateful for everyone for their kindness to our family.

‘The acquittal today leaves us with mixed emotions. While we’re relieved the trial is over, we’re obviously left wondering who is responsible for the death of our son. This verdict does not bring Scott back. It will not restore a father to his son, or a husband to his wife. It does not restore a son and brother to his family. Our lives have been altered forever.

‘At times the pain of our broken hearts is almost too much to bear. However, through this tragedy we have learnt a lot—mostly about ourselves—what we stand for, our values and what’s important to us. We’ve learnt what is important is a father to his children. And although that father cannot be replaced, we know that with strong community and family support and values, that there is hope for the future.

‘We are thankful for how Scott touched our lives and we are the richer for that. We must focus on what we have, not what we have lost. And we are determined to love and support our children and grandchildren in their future.

‘Our family is grateful for the generosity of so many people. It reminds us that the world is full of good people that really do care. So thankyou for that reminder and thankyou all for your love and support.

‘Now, the last few weeks and months, our lives have been an open book to the nation. We’d now like to close the chapter at this stage, and just pause and reflect and have time to get away from the publicity and begin to rebuild our lives. So thankyou very much to all of you.’

It was a moving speech, just three minutes long, but one that distilled the family’s loss and heartbreak. And it again reminded people of Bryan Guy’s remarkable strength and dignity that had been repeatedly displayed throughout the trial. He had sustained the attention of a nation with composure and kindness and was a lesson to many about coping with pressure.

As Greg King and Peter Coles both noted, at any time during his many appearances as a witness, Bryan could have stuck the boot into Macdonald, merely by emphasis or a choice of words. He could have interpreted past events with their most negative implications or defended Scott’s actions even when they seemed extravagant. ‘The Guys have been nothing but absolutely honest and truthful and where there’s been a concession to make, they’ve made it without hesitation,’ said King. ‘Often you get embellishing, exaggerating and sometimes downright lying. But these people have my total respect and my admiration for them is huge.’

The Guy family didn’t stay to answer questions but turned and walked to waiting taxis, Anna not even turning her head as media asked for her thoughts.

Passers-by on Molesworth St paused at the wall of media and asked what the verdict was. ‘Not surprised—doesn’t surprise me at all,’ said a man in a thick coat with its collar turned up before loping off downhill.

Shortly afterwards, Detective Inspector Sue Schwalger emerged to front the media. It was an extraordinarily difficult moment, even for the tough and well-trained Schwalger. Not only did she have to cope with the inevitable personal disappointment that the man they believed was responsible for Scott Guy’s death had been acquitted, she now had to face media who wanted to know why he’d been found not guilty.

Schwalger had never been comfortable with the level of media scrutiny the case had attracted other than it being a useful channel for police to disseminate their appeals for information. She’d been even more uncomfortable with being put in the spotlight herself, reluctant to do profiles, emphasising it was a team that was investigating the case.

‘This was a thorough and professional investigation,’ she insisted as cameras whirred and microphones in reporters’ outstretched arms caught her words. ‘We put all the evidence together and we put the best available evidence before the jury. We accept the jury’s decision.’

‘Do you think you could have done more?’ a reporter asked.

‘Every piece of evidence and every piece of information that was delivered to the police, we investigated. We investigated it with a vigour. No stone has been left unturned and we will investigate any other information that comes to light. However, we have conducted a thorough and professional investigation,’ she repeated, as if sensing there would be recriminations about why Macdonald had not been convicted.

While attempting to remain dispassionate and deflect questions as to whether the jury had got it right, Schwalger let her front slip a little when she was asked if she still believed police had charged the right person. She paused then gave a small laugh. ‘All evidence led to the prosecution. We put that evidence in front of the jury and the jury have made that decision.’

Any doubt that police still believed Macdonald was guilty was soon removed. ‘Police are currently not pursuing anyone else in relation to this investigation nor are there any other avenues of inquiry.’ Schwalger then repeated that if any new evidence surfaced, they would investigate it.

Her obvious discomfort in front of the cameras was understandable and she didn’t prolong her appearance. Despite having a thousand things she at times wished she could say, Schwalger has largely kept them to herself since the trial and remained silent.

After they’d escaped the pursuing media, Kerry and Marlene Macdonald went back to their friend Paul’s house. ‘And collapsed and cried,’ recalls Marlene.

Their phones didn’t stop ringing, texts pouring in saying, ‘We all knew what it would be,’ ‘Awesome awesome awesome,’ ‘Congratulations,’ and ‘We wish we could be there to celebrate with you.’

‘But we thought, celebration’s not the right word,’ said Kerry. ‘It was the verdict we wanted and were waiting for, but it wasn’t leap up and down and punch the air. There was no elation, really.’ That said, he and Paul had a few whiskies to settle their nerves and eventually they went to Blair’s home for dinner.

Blair had texted Anna to say if she wanted to talk, to give him a call, which she did. Later Marlene rang her and asked how her family were.

‘Relieved,’ Bryan called out in the background.

‘Tell him we feel exactly the same,’ replied Marlene.

‘At least I can go home and tell the kids that Daddy didn’t do it,’ said Anna.

Meanwhile, back at court, Greg King was trying to avoid the maelstrom of media and public reaction. Many reporters, including Mark Sainsbury from daily current affairs programme
Close Up
, who King knew well, approached him for comment, but he politely declined, simply saying, “Not today.”

The reality was that King was spent, both physically and mentally, able to feel little more than overwhelming relief. When the jury filed in for the last time he’d found his heart racing. ‘I was just numb. I couldn’t look at them—just head down. It took time to register, quite frankly, time to sink in.’