The wife of a west Auckland dairy owner stabbed and killed in his Henderson shop says it wasn't until after the incident that she noticed her husband was hurt.
Arun Kumar Photo: NZ POLICE
A 14-year-old boy is accused of murdering Arun Kumar and a 13-year-old boy is accused of manslaughter. They have denied the charges at the start of their trial.
Both teenagers, who have name suppression, also face charges of assault with intent to rob.
Anita Kumar wept uncontollably at times today as she told the High Court in Auckland of the last moments of Mr Kumar's life.
Mrs Kumar said she was making coffee out the back when the boys came into the dairy.
She described hearing a commotion happening inside the shop and then her husband called out to get the phone so he could call the cops.
She said she ran out the back and returned with the phone but one of the boys knocked it from her hand and it scattered across the floor.
She said, as this happened, she noticed a second boy standing in the doorway and demanding money.
Mrs Kumar said she brushed past the boy to go next door to alert the police.
When she came back, she wrestled with the boy, who had a bat, and got hit in the head.
She said she managed to take the bat off him before going to help her husband.
The boys ran off and it was then she noticed her husband was bleeding.
Under cross examination from the boys' lawyers, she confirmed she didn't give police every detail at the time.
But she said she was interviewed by police on 10 June - the same day her husband died in front of her.
She said she was shocked and half the time she didn't know what she was saying.
Earlier, the jurors heard from the lawyers representing the boys.
Maria Pecotic is representing the 14-year-old, who is charged with murder.
She asked the jurors to focus on the issue of intent and just what was going through her client's mind at the time of the incident.
Ms Pecotic said her client never anticipated, planned or contemplated the death of Mr Kumar.
Phil Hamlin is one of the lawyers representing the 13-year-old, who is charged with manslaughter.
Mr Hamlin said his client had no idea about what would happen in the dairy.
He said the Crown couldn't prove his client had the intent to assault anyone or knowledge that his friend would use the knife.
The case has been set down for five weeks.
