The partner of murdered Blenheim man Carl MacDonald believes the fatal gun shot was not aimed at him.
"They shot the wrong man," Sonia Love said.
Ms Love said she was pleased that Aaron James Harvey, 35, was yesterday found guilty of murdering Mr MacDonald, but she wondered why his three co-accused, Corey William Mackle, Peter Christopher Tait and Jason David Warren, were acquitted. "(Harvey) was not aiming for Carl. Not him. He (Carl) was awesome," Ms Love told the Marlborough Express.
The verdicts were delivered after an 11-day High Court trial in Blenheim.
The killing followed a clash outside the Lone Legion motorcycle club in Blenheim in September last year.
Footage from the gang's CCTV camera showed Harvey shooting a rifle during the clash between two groups of men.
On the morning he was shot, Mr MacDonald, 39, loaned his car to his brother Sloan's friend, Matthew Te Puia, known as Mush, so he could tow a trailer. Ms Love said this was unusual.
"When he borrowed it, I thought what? I woke him (Carl) up and asked him, `Why has Mush borrowed it'?"
Te Puia soon returned with the car, which had a broken windscreen.
He said Harvey threw a brick at it. Ms Love, her mother-in-law Kim MacDonald and a friend went to the gang house to ask who would pay for the damage. Te Puia, Carl and his brothers Sloan and Thomas Jr followed.
Harvey then aimed a gun at the street where several MacDonalds and Te Puia were standing, and fired.
The court heard Te Puia had a history with the gang and had recently smashed the windows of a car parked outside the gang house.
Ms Love did not believe the gun was aimed at her partner. "They shot the wrong man. And I'm not the only one that's said it."
Several other people have been dealt with by the courts in relation to the event on charges such as unlawful assembly.
"I am satisfied with the verdict, but I am disappointed as well. But that's the way life goes."
She said the verdict would not bring closure, but would bring some comfort to the family.
The loss of Mr MacDonald was particularly hard during family milestones, she said. This included the birth of Mr MacDonald's second grandchild and the 21st birthday of the couple's eldest son.
Detective Richard Rolton, officer in charge of the police court file for this case, said police were "pleased for the family whanau of Carl MacDonald that the person who is responsible for (the death of their) father, partner, brother and son has been found guilty".
The MacDonald family declined to comment.
Sloan MacDonald and Te Puia were convicted of assault and possessing offensive weapons, offences committed on the day of the shooting.
Their sentencing followed at Blenheim District Court, but Judge Tony Zohrab suppressed publication of reports about it until the High Court trial was complete.
He said Sloan MacDonald and Te Puia caused no injuries to Lone Legion associates in the dispute outside the Lone Legion Clubhouse in Gascoigne St.
The gang's closed circuit TV, however, showed them assaulting Harvey, MacDonald wielding a waratah, Te Puia a pinch bar, he said.
He sentenced MacDonald, a first-time offender, to 200 hours community work.
Te Puia was sentenced to six months home detention with an order to undertake drug and alcohol abuse counselling, complete a tikanga Maori programme and abstain from consuming alcohol or illicit drugs.
Both men had been provoked by the gang members' ongoing racist insults and leering at them and their families, Judge Zohrab said.
"But while the gang members did not conduct themselves well ... both of you have an insight and an understanding that if you had not acted the way you did, your good friend and brother would still be with us today.
"That's a very heavy weight you both bear on your shoulders and will have to bear for a long time."
Harvey will be sentenced next month.
