18 Oct 2016

Jury deliberates verdict in Dunedin cleaner murder trial

1:03 pm on 18 October 2016

The jury in the trial of a young cleaner accused of murdering his supervisor in a Dunedin car park has just been sent out to deliberate.

Alexander Merritt in the High Court in Dunedin.

Alexander Merritt in the High Court in Dunedin. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Alexander Merritt is accused of murdering his supervisor Karin Ross in the Spotless Cleaning car park in Dunedin's harbourside area last December.

Justice Nicholas Davidson summed up this morning in the High Court in Dunedin after a fortnight of evidence.

The defence said the Crown case was full of holes, and there was no solid evidence putting Mr Merritt at the scene of the crime.

Justice Davidson said the jury should work through the prosecution's evidence carefully and ignore anything that did not stack up.

He said an example of this was the seemingly contradictory evidence about whether Mr Merritt would have had to time to get to the carpark from his home by the time Ms Ross was attacked.

Justice Davidson said the jury would have to decide what evidence they believed.

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