Jeremy McLaughlin hatched a plan to burgle his ex-partner's house three weeks before he allegedly killed Christchurch schoolgirl Jade Bayliss, he told a court today.
The 35-year-old 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 later found dead in the burning family home 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.
The Crown closed its case this morning on the eighth day of the High Court trial in Christchurch and McLaughlin is on the stand giving evidence.
He said he'd been "pretty cut up" after splitting up with Jade's mum, Tina Bayliss after a relationship of 4-6 weeks.
McLaughlin and his former flatmate, Jolon Sweeney, 41, who today pleaded guilty to a charge of being an accessory after the fact of the burglary and arson, had planned to do the burglary weeks earlier.
But Sweeney never showed up on the morning they'd agreed to do it, McLaughlin claimed.
He told how he sat in his car for two hours down the road from the Somerfield house, becoming "really frustrated".
Deciding to do it himself, he parked up the driveway and went inside after knocking on the unlocked door.
He claimed he walked around the house, and after seeing no-one was home, proceeded to steal three TVs, game consoles, and private family documents including passports.
After pawning what items he could, he returned to his Waltham flat where he met Sweeney.
When he asked where he'd been, Sweeney asked him if he'd torched the house, claiming it would force English-born Mrs Bayliss - who he "hated" - to "go back to the UK quicker".
McLaughlin says he returned to the house with a petrol canister and poured petrol throughout, and set it alight.
The flames singed hairs on his right arm, and "scared" him.
"I got out of there real quick."
They then disposed of the remaining items taken from the Bayliss house.
Earlier today, a video of a police interview was shown to the jury on the day Jade was discovered dead, presumed murdered.
Detective Constable Keith Olds is heard telling McLaughlin that he should come clean.
The accused responds by shaking his head and telling him that he's done nothing wrong.
He denied being "p***** off" and going to the house to burgle it, when the girl, off sick from school, disturbed him and so he killed her and set the house alight.
As Mr Olds leaves the interview room, McLaughlin is seen shaking his head and heard muttering to himself.
"I can't believe this s***," he says.
As new material emerged from the police investigation, McLaughlin was spoken again on November 14, November 23, and December 12, but declined to comment on each occasion, which was his legal right.
Last week, Mrs Bayliss gave evidence that her daughter had "no respect" for her alleged killer and used to mock his speech impediment.
She also revealed that McLaughlin professed his love for her on the first day they met, while he was working a second job as door security at a Christchurch nightclub in September 2011.
They split up after McLaughlin had a row with Jade, the oldest of three children, because she had written 'Ford' on his 'Holden' T-shirt.
Pathologist Dr Katherine White last week told the court that Jade had died of strangulation - before the fire broke out.
The trial before Justice Graham Panckhurst continues.
