October 08, 2008

Liam Reid spoke of strangulation during sex, says workmate

Emma Agnew murder trial: Day 3 update

A workmate of murder accused Liam James Reid has told the High Court of Reid mentioning strangulation during sex.

The workmate at an industrial refrigeration plant, Warren James Wallace, said Reid mentioned sexual matters in passing on a couple of occasions.

He referred to ?past girlfriends, possibly? and spoke of ?strangulation with the hands around the throat?.

The witness told the court: ?I said something like, ?That?s pretty out of it?.?

Cross-examined by defence counsel David Bunce, he was asked if Reid had been talking about ?unusual but consensual activity during sex.?

Mr Wallace replied: ?There was no mention of consent. I don?t know.?

Mr Bunce: ?He didn?t explain to you that this was supposed to enhance sensation during sex??

Mr Wallace: ?I don?t recall.?

A friend of Reid?s former girlfriend ? the girlfriend has name suppression ? told the court she learnt on the morning of November 15, 2007, that Reid and the girlfriend had split up. She told the court that the girlfriend had been supplying her with cannabis tinnies about once a week.

November 15 was the day that Christchurch woman Emma Agnew disappeared, and her body was found 11 days later at Spencer Park.

Reid is charged with the rape and murder of Miss Agnew, and a later sex attack and attempted murder on a woman in Dunedin.