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Ōpōtiki murder accused found guilty of manslaughter Tue, 13 Jul 2021, 1:31PM
A jury has found Harry Clements Matchitt not guilty of murder but guilty of Brian Hilton s manslaughter killing. (Photo / File)
Ōpōtiki murder accused found guilty of manslaughter Tue, 13 Jul 2021, 1:31PM
The jury in an Ōpōtiki murder trial has found Harry Clements Matchitt not guilty of murdering 77-year-old Brian Hilton who died five years ago today.
However, the jury instead found Matchitt, 54, guilty of the manslaughter assault of Brian Albert Hilton on the evening of July 7, 2016.
Matchitt s jury trial began in the High Court at Tauranga on July 5.
Benn Bathgate17:35, Jul 06 2021
Scott Yeoman/Stuff
Harry Clements Matchitt appears in the High Court at Tauranga, charged with the murder of Brian Albert Hilton.
About a month before he was found in his Ōpōtiki home with injuries that would later claim his life, Brian Hilton phoned his carer, Alan Putt. “You’ve got to come over. That mad bastard [name suppressed] is trying to get in.” Putt was giving evidence in the High Court at Tauranga on the second day of the murder trial of Harry Matchitt, 52, the man accused of murdering Hilton in 2016. On July 8, Hilton, 77, was found with facial injuries, lying on the floor of his home, and he was taken to Tauranga Hospital. He died on July 13.
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