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Constable David Goldfinch describes how the shooter came after him with a gun and how he believed he would die. He then got out of the car, shot Hunt dead and fired numerous times at Goldfinch before leaving in a car driven by Bracken. On Friday, Shane Conza told the court how Epiha and a woman, who he now knows to be Bracken, arrived at his Taupaki property shortly before midday. Conza and Epiha had been friends for about six years. “He wanted me to drive him somewhere,” Conza said. Conza took some of Epiha’s belongings out of the Mazda that Bracken had been driving, and put them in his car.
In the hours after shooting constables Matthew Hunt and David Goldfinch killing Hunt Eli Epiha seemed calm, making only one startling but vague admission, an associate of his said at his trial. I just recall him saying he f ed up, Shane Conza recalled the defendant saying as Conza drove him north that June 2020 afternoon, away from the West Auckland neighbourhood where the officers were gunned down. Maybe foolishly, I didn t ask what the Epiha was referring to, Conza continued, maintaining that he knew nothing of the shootings at the time. Sometimes in situations you get a feeling.
Epiha, 25, pleaded guilty last week to Hunt s murder although he maintains it the was the result of recklessness instead of murderous intent. His trial for attempted murder of Constable Goldfinch began this week at the High Court in Auckland.
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Epiha is on trial at the High Court at Auckland, along with Natalie Bracken, who has denied being an accessory after the fact of murder by helping Epiha avoid arrest. On the day of the shooting, a dark purple Toyota, driven by Epiha, caught the two constables’ attention and was flagged in the police national intelligence system. Constable Goldfinch said the pair had been on road policing duties with their car stationed on Triangle Rd, in Massey, when Epiha’s “erratic” driving caught his attention. “We decided to go and stop the vehicle just due to manner of driving, alerts on the vehicle and not being the registered owner.