The jury in the Jade Bayliss murder trial must shelve feelings of sympathy and prejudice in the "very sad" case, and use their common sense when coming to their verdict, a court heard today in closing submissions.
Jeremy McLaughlin, 35, is accused of strangling the schoolgirl with a piece of cord before stuffing socks in her mouth and dousing her Christchurch house in petrol and setting it ablaze.
Jade, 13, was found dead in the burning property by firefighters on November 10, 2011.
The labourer and part-time nightclub doorman denies murder, saying he never saw anyone inside the house that day, but has pleaded guilty to burglary and arson.
At the High Court in Christchurch today, defence counsel Margaret Sewell told the jury in her closing address that they must detach themselves from emotion in assessing the evidence.
She said McLaughlin was subjected to a "highly dramatic" cross-examination when he gave evidence yesterday.
He repeatedly denied killing the girl, while the Crown used every trick to try to get him to admit it, said Ms Sewell.
When he was accused of lying, perhaps it was because the Crown knew they he wasn't saying what they wanted him to say, she said.
Ms Sewell ruled out potential motives that Jade was killed after disturbing McLaughlin's burglary, and also that the murder came at the hands of an unreasonable man angry at the end of a 4-6 week relationship with Jade's mum, Tina Bayliss.
Meanwhile, if the motive of the arson was to burn the body, then he "surely would have targeted the area", she said.
There was conflicting evidence, Ms Sewell said, over whether Jade's bedroom door was open or closed.
The Crown says whoever set fire to the house must have seen Jade's body lying on the floor.
If the jury thinks it is "reasonably possible" that McLaughlin was telling he truth during his evidence, then they must acquit him, Ms Sewell said.
Earlier, when the Crown gave its closing submissions, they said Jade was killed by McLaughlin during his burglary, and the arson was committed to conceal that crime.
All three crimes were inter-connected, Crown prosecutor Kathy Bell said.
She recalled the evidence of pathologist Dr Katherine White who told the court that Jade had died of strangulation before the fire broke out.
Given that socks were also stuffed in her mouth, there was "no doubt" that Jade had been murdered, she said.
DNA found under her right fingernails, which matched McLaughlin's profile, got there while she fought for her life, Ms Bell said.
It was not transferred earlier through normal house-sharing means, given that the trial heard evidence Jade was very hygienic, had showered that morning, and was fastidious about the cleanliness and length of her fingernails, the jury was told.
The trial heard hours of evidence relating to CCTV footage, and telephone records, which helped "irrefutably" establish events on that day, said Ms Bell.
Suggestions by the defence that someone else entered the house that day to kill her, she said, are not proven.
Ms Bell said McLaughlin in his testimony "inferred through stealth" for the jury to think that former flatmate Jolon Sweeney may have committed the murder, but again the Crown said it was not possible.
"McLaughlin needs someone else in the frame," Ms Bell said.
She added that that when he told lies to police in his first interview, he was doing so because he "thought he could get away with it".
While admitting he had burgled and then set the Bayliss property alight, McLaughlin denies stuffing socks into Jade's mouth or strangling her.
McLaughlin claims no-one was home when he was there stealing TVs, games consoles, a bicycle, lawnmower and family documents, or later when he returned with a petrol canister and lighter.
Sweeney, 41, yesterday pleaded guilty to a charge of being an accessory after the fact of the burglary and arson.
Justice Graham Panckhurst will sum up the evidence when the jury returns around midday today.
