A woman had her handbag snatched before the thief ran her down in a stolen four-wheel drive and killed her, a court has been told.
Jian "Joanne" Wang died in hospital from head injuries after being knocked down by a vehicle in the carpark of Manukau's Westfield shopping centre in June, 2008.
The Crown says Christopher Shadrock was behind the wheel but Shadrock has denied murdering Mrs Wang.
Shadrock and four of his friends are on trial in the High Court at Auckland.
The Crown says the friends helped Shadrock avoid police afterwards.
Maka Tuikolovatu has denied hiding Mrs Wang's handbag at his home.
Three others - Vila Lemanu, Lionel Tekanaw and Terence Tere - have denied destroying evidence, namely setting fire to a Nissan 4WD in the days following Mrs Wang's death.
In his opening address today, Crown prosecutor Kevin Glubb said Shadrock was driving a stolen Nissan 4WD on the day of Mrs Wang's death.
"Mr Shadrock stole the handbag but found his escape route blocked and chose to run her down to get away with his plunder," Mr Glubb said.
He said Shadrock had options and the killing was totally unnecessary.
"What was the one thing going through his mind? 'What's in the bag'."
He said that in the days following the killing, Shadrock's friends tried to help him by either hiding the handbag or burning the stolen car that they knew had been used to kill Mrs Wang and would tie Shadrock to the crime.
Mr Glubb said Tere had told police that he was paid $300 by Shadrock to get rid of the truck.
He said Tere drove the truck to a secluded carpark where the others helped him set fire to the truck.
A jury of nine women and three men were chosen to hear the trial.
It has been set down for five weeks but Justice Timothy Brewer has told the jurors on Monday that it could be over in less than four weeks.
