A 50-year-old man is on trial, accused of killing five people by setting the boarding house alight on May 16, 2023. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
It's been revealed in court that the man accused of lighting the fatal Loafers Lodge fire had paranoid schizophrenia.
The man's lawyer referred to the serious mental illness while he cross-examined Ministry of Social Development (MSD) staff at the High Court in Wellington, as they recalled the defendant's efforts to find accommodation in the days before the fire was lit.
Their descriptions of his behaviour varied from friendly and calm, to aggressive and agitated.
The 50-year-old man, who has name suppression, is on trial, accused of killing five people by setting the boarding house alight on 16 May, 2023.
The Crown said it understood the defence did not dispute the man started the blaze, but intended to argue he was insane at the time.
Mary Lualua, an MSD case manager, told the court the man had arrived on 4 May asking for emergency accommodation.
She said he first told her he lived in Wellington, but when she pointed out his file contained an Auckland address, he admitted he had left Auckland because his accommodation was not suitable and he felt unsafe there.
"[He said] his food would go missing in the fridge, some of his belongings would go missing," Lualua said.
Mary Lualua. Photo: Pool
Because he had not sought other accommodation in Auckland, and arrived in Wellington with no plans for a place to stay, he did not qualify for emergency housing, she said.
The man was obviously upset, and Lualua had to explain a few times why she was declining him, she said.
"The way he was staring at me, he was really not happy with the answer," Lualua said.
She advised him of other places he could go for help, and the man sat in the office for some time before asking Lualua's colleague who gave him the same answer, she said.
He left, and returned later that day to ask Lualua again.
"I advised him of his options again ... still that blank look, just not happy with the answer," she said.
Defence lawyer Steve Gill. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Under cross-examination, the man's lawyer, Steve Gill, pressed Lualua on why the man left Auckland.
"What he said about food, was that people were putting stuff in his food, not taking it," Gill said.
"I don't recall him saying that," Lualua replied.
"You accessed his record, did you see on it that he's described as a paranoid schizophrenic?" Gill asked.
"I didn't go that deep into his record," she said.
Social services describe defendant's behaviour
The court heard that over the next few days the defendant met on multiple occasions with two other MSD case managers - Pavan Alagiri on 5 May, and Herani King on 8 May - as well as Millie Lambess from Te Wāhi Āwhina, a community support space in the central city.
They attempted to refer him to other social services and help him get accommodation, and he stayed at a backpackers before checking into Loafers Lodge on 8 May.
Alagiri said the man told him he thought people were putting things in his food at his Auckland accommodation.
He did not know the MSD file said he had paranoid schizophrenia, but King did.
"I asked him, are you taking any meds? And he goes 'no', and I told him to go get that sorted ... and he said he would," King said.
The witnesses gave different accounts of the defendant's behaviour during their interactions with him.
"When he sat down he was agitated, he was really fidgety, he was aggressive," King said.
His behaviour was "like a rollercoaster", she said.
"If he thought I was gonna turn him down to emergency housing he would get more agitated, his tone would get louder and more intense."
But Alagiri, who had offered to refer him to transitional housing in the city, described him as calm and quiet.
And Lambess said her time spent with the defendant was pleasant, and that he was quiet, subdued and friendly.
They each believed the man understood what they were telling him, though at times it took some repeating.
Lambess said he visited her on 11 May to tell her he had secured accommodation in Newtown.
It was Loafers Lodge, but he did not name the accommodation at the time.
"He was really happy with himself," she said.
At about 2am on 16 May, Lambess was called to help set up the evacuation centre for residents who escaped the Loafers Lodge blaze lit just after midnight.
She kept an eye out for the defendant because she knew he was staying in Newtown.
About 3pm that day when she finished up, she sent him a text: "Hi [defendant], just checking you weren't at Loafers Lodge?"
He replied the following afternoon: "Hi Millie, I'm staying at Lower Hutt now."
It's the second week of the trial, which is expected to run for at least five weeks.
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