May 13, 2013

Previous choking of victim described at murder trial

By David Clarkson

Two previous assaults where Nikki Roper seized the throat of the woman he is accused of murdering were put before the jury on the sixth day of his trial in the High Court at Christchurch.

All evidence ? including two defence witnesses ? was completed in the trial in the afternoon, and the court will hear closing addresses from 9am on Tuesday before Justice Forrest Miller sums up for the jury.

The last police witness, Detective Anthony Clare, produced a summary of facts detailing two assaults by Roper on Alexsis Maria Tovizi in May 2009.

In one, the couple argued in a car and he grabbed her around the neck while she was driving, holding her in a tight grip for about 30 seconds. He then punched her.

Later the same day, he went to her home where he pulled a telephone cord from the wall and then held Miss Tovizi by the throat causing her to have difficulty breathing. She had minor bruising on the side of her neck.

Roper, 24, pleaded guilty to the two assault charges and explained to the police that he had lost his temper.

The jury has already heard of another assault on Miss Tovizi outside Cowles Stadium on October 16, 2010, when he was also convicted of assault and jailed in November.

The Crown alleges he killed 21-year-old Miss Tovizi on the night of December 5-6, 2010, a few days after being released from jail.

The trial spent the day hearing evidence from medical experts, and from two witnesses who are experts in the application of the carotid or sleeper hold, which the Crown alleges was used on Miss Tovizi. The Crown case is that she was killed when Roper used the hold on her, or made unconscious and then drowned.

Roper denies charges of murder, unlawfully taking her car, stealing her laptop, and five charges of dishonestly using her bankcard after her death.