The man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend and her young daughter went to his uncle in the middle of the night to ask where he could dispose of the bodies, a court has heard.
Juwairiyah Kalim - known as Jojo (left) - and a photo of her and her mother Pakeeza Faizal, also known as Mubarak Yusuf. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
Bal Naidu is giving evidence at the High Court in Auckland, where Kamal Reddy has denied charges of murdering Pakeeza Yusuf and her three-year-old daughter, Juwairiyah Kalim.
Mr Reddy was arrested after an undercover police operation, eight years after Ms Yusuf and her daughter went missing.
Naidu, an uncle of Mr Reddy, told the court he was woken in the middle of the night by a phone call from Mr Reddy, who said he was out the front of his Papatoetoe home.
He said when he went outside, Mr Reddy told him he had killed his ex-girlfriend and her daughter and had the bodies in the back of his car.
The 66-year-old retired carpenter said when he suggested Mr Reddy go to the police, Mr Reddy said he would be locked up.
Naidu said light from a street lamp allowed him to see into the back of Mr Reddy's Subaru hatchback and he could see the bodies covered in blankets.
He said Mr Reddy told him he wanted to bury the bodies.
Under questioning from Crown prosecutor Natalie Walker, Naidu said he did not go to police at the time because Mr Reddy said Naidu would get into big trouble.
Instead of going to police, he and Mr Reddy got in his van and the pair drove to a new Takapuna motorway overbridge where Naidu was working as a site manager.
The pair stayed there for about 10 minutes before Naidu drove them back to his house.
He said in the morning when he went to work, he saw the ground had been disturbed and he was very scared, leaving the area as soon as he could.
Naidu said Mr Reddy phoned him afterwards and told him he had buried the bodies on the western side of the bridge.
The jury have heard evidence that Naidu provided Mr Reddy with tools to do the digging, but Naidu denied that was the case.
He said he only told the police the truth after installing electric fences at his Papatoetoe property. He said that he had feared for the safety of his family.
He confirmed that he had made two earlier statements to the police and had withheld what he knew.
He is still serving his sentence of 12 months home detention after pleading guilty last year to two charges of being an accessory after the fact to murder.
RNZ News was prevented from reporting the sentence at the time to protect Mr Reddy's fair trial rights.
Under cross-examination by Mr Reddy's lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, Naidu confirmed he made a statement to the police about Mr Reddy's involvement in order to get a lighter sentence.
He also said his lawyer told him to tell the truth to the police.
Naidu will continue to be cross-examined today.
The jury has also listened to an audio recording made by an undercover police officer.
In the recording, Naidu and Mr Reddy take the officer to the site of the burial.
Extensive suppression orders covering the police undercover operation are in place.
