A Dunedin man on trial for manslaughter allegedly said he may have killed his best friend, just hours after the incident.
A teenage witness told the High Court at Dunedin yesterday Jason Karl Blackler turned up at her Corstorphine home in the early hours of October 26, 2016.
He appeared ''angry and worried'', the girl said, and sat on the couch before saying he thought he might have killed his mate.
However, the girl's mother - who was Blackler's then partner - told the court yesterday he made no such disclosure.
Blackler is on trial accused of the manslaughter of 66-year-old Alan James Fahey, known as ''God'' (Grumpy Old Decorator).
The two flatmates, who lived in Brockville Rd, had a lengthy drinking session, downing beer and Jagermeister over several hours, before an argument allegedly broke out when the victim made sexual comments about the defendant's terminally-ill sister.
The Crown says that led to Blackler beating Fahey and the assault was a ''substantial and operative cause of death''.
After the alleged violence, the defendant got a taxi to his then girlfriend's house in Corstorphine.
Her teenage daughter said Blackler made comments suggesting he was responsible on his return.
She told police in an interview she understood ''after the fourth warning, Jason started attacking [Mr Fahey]''.
Defence counsel Anne Stevens suggested no conversation about an assault took place.
The girl claimed it had but accepted she may have had her times ''jumbled up'', and admitted discussing the case with strangers over Facebook in the ensuing days.
Blackler had no blood on him or obvious signs of being involved in a physical altercation when he arrived at the house, she accepted.
Her mother gave evidence next and told the jury she had sat up with the defendant all night - she drinking coffee, he continuing on the beers.
During those hours, the woman said Blackler said nothing about inflicting violence on Mr Fahey.
On the morning of October 26, the defendant summoned his friend Stephen Ferguson to Corstorphine and asked him to go to the Brockville Rd house to check on the victim.
''I put the back of my hand on an exposed part of his ribcage ... I remember it being stone cold,'' Mr Ferguson told the court.
Blackler's ex-partner, who also went to the house, said she grabbed some of the defendant's clothes, turned off a running shower but did not look at the body in the lounge.
Phone records showed she made three calls on the way home.
She said she did not discuss Mr Fahey's death but rather asked her daughter to put the jug on in preparation for their return.
When Blackler left for town - where he was eventually arrested - the woman said she washed the clothes he was wearing the previous night.
It was part of her usual routine, she said.
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith said police found bloody footprints leading from the victim's body to the bathroom, and there was more blood in the basin and shower.
Mr Fahey suffered cuts and bruises to his face and a postmortem discovered he suffered lung disease from smoking and severe coronary artery disease.
Despite the pre-existing medical complaints, Mr Smith said an assault on the victim triggered his death.
Mrs Stevens said there was no evidence her client was behind an attack or that violence had occurred.
Comments Blackler made to police came when he was intoxicated and emotional, she said.
''What you do know is we had an older, angry, grossly drunk man in a house you will see was so messy it was hazardous,'' Mrs Stevens said.
''In that state, in that house, he could have fallen over and injured himself at any point.''
The trial continues.
