Two men accused of murdering a Sri Lankan farm worker in Canterbury are directing the blame at each other.
The body of Sameera Battelage was found at a fire-damaged property in Oxford in February 2012.
Thuvan Prawesh Sawal. Photo: FAIRFAX MEDIA
Viraj Alahakoon. Photo: FAIRFAX MEDIA
Thuvan Prawesh Sawal and Viraj Alahakoon have pleaded not guilty to joint charges of murder and arson. Mr Alahakoon also faces two assault charges.
In his opening statement on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Brent Stanaway told the Christchurch High Court that Sameera Battelage, 28, was killed because he had been having an affair with a woman that Mr Alahakoon knew.
Mr Stanaway said Mr Alahakoon killed him with the help of Mr Sawal on the night of 22 February last year.
The jury was told Mr Battelage was killed by six stabbing or cutting wounds to his neck, before his house on Dominion Road was set alight.
The lawyer for Viraj Alahakoon, Kerry Cook, told the jury on Tuesday that his client wasn't involved in the killing or arson and blamed Prawesh Sawal.
However, Mr Sawall's lawyer, John Brandts-Giesen, said the opposite, stating that his client was having a cigarette outside when he realised that Mr Alahakoon had killed Sameera Battelage.
The trial is expected to take six weeks.
