Mohamed Elmi was not killed by the mosque gunman but his death would never have occurred had the tragedy not taken place.
Yesterday in the High Court at Christchurch the victim impact statements of those wounded, mentally scarred and bereaved continued as the tales of trauma piled up, the colossal human cost of one afternoon’s carnage.
Brenton Harrison Tarrant (29) pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and a charge of engaging in a terrorist act and is expected to be sentenced by Justice Cameron Mander tomorrow.
Among the victims was Luul Elmi, a resident of Christchurch for 26 years.
She was at the Al Noor Mosque for Friday prayers on March 15 last year, the court heard, but it was her husband Mohamed who paid the ultimate price.
As she escaped down Deans Ave, she saw the shooter.
Frantically, she tried to flag down passing vehicles, screaming for people to stop.
She sought refuge in a nearby property where four women and a child were also hiding.
"We all just cuddled," she said.
Hearing the news of the massacre, Mr Elmi drove from Balclutha, where he worked as a halal slaughterman at Finegand to support his partner and other fragile members of the Muslim community.
Mrs Elmi remembered him being "very traumatised", unable to sleep.
Five days later, the 49-year-old made the drive south for his morning shift at the meat works.
At Palmerston, however, he crashed and died.
"My husband was the head of our family and I miss him so much," Mrs Elmi said.
"I believe the defendant’s actions are part of the reason my husband is now dead."
Mirwais Waziri, who sustained a gunshot wound to his scalp, cast his written statement aside, looked the killer in the eye and delivered an impassioned speech.
Originally from Afghanistan, he said he had been labelled a terrorist in the past.
"You took that name from me," he said. "Any race and any face can be a terrorist."
So impressed were some in the public gallery that they clapped for the speaker.
The killer’s acts had made Mr Waziri even more patriotic.
"My brothers and sisters suffered but we’re stronger than before. I will stay in this country forever. I will not leave this country," he said.
Zuhair Darwish, whose brother Kamel was shot several times in the head, said he had lived in New Zealand for a decade.
He had persuaded his brother to come to the country because he considered it such a safe place, he told the court.
Before Mr Darwish’s video statement was played he had a message for the gunman.
"You act like a coward and you are a coward. You live like a rat and I think you deserve that. You’re going to die alone like a virus everyone avoids being with."
Tarrant nodded.
"I know they removed the death penalty for humans — he is not a human. He doesn’t deserve to be treated or judged like a human."
Kyron Gosse unwittingly watched footage of the mass slaughter that Tarrant had streamed on Facebook before he knew his aunt Linda Armstrong was among those killed at the Linwood Islamic Centre.
"What I saw on that video will haunt me for the rest of my life," he told the court. "I saw a first-person account of this man without flinching or hesitation ... pulled the trigger on an automatic assault weapon murdering an unarmed man before storming the mosque and gunning down dozens of innocent worshippers."
He called the killer a "hateful lowlife" and spoke of his disgust at learning Tarrant was a visitor to the country.
"He hid behind his big powerful guns and shot little old Linda from afar. She never even stood a chance," Mr Gosse said.
Today, the court will hear the remaining victim-impact statements before Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh makes submissions.
Tarrant will then have the opportunity to address the court.
