By Charlotte Shipman
The first week of the Ewen Macdonald murder trial has gripped the country.
Macdonald is accused of murdering his brother-in-law Scott Guy at the end of Guy's Feilding property nearly two years ago.
Ewen Macdonald’s lawyers say there were plenty of people who had it in for Scott Guy.
Simon Asplin worked with Guy and Macdonald on the Guy family farm. He thought Scott was arrogant and didn't pull his weight.
The Crown says Macdonald killed his brother-in-law because he was jealous of Guy and worried about his own place on the dairy farm after Scott Guy told his parents he wanted to inherit it.
Macdonald had been working there since he was 17. The Crown says he festered and stewed over the thought of losing it all.
The Crown says Scott Guy may have been killed with the farm shotgun, which wasn't locked away at the time.
On the morning Scott Guy was killed, his eldest sister Nikki rushed to the scene.
Macdonald was already there. Scott Guy's neighbour David Berry said Scott Guy's throat had been slit.
Macdonald corrected him twice and said Scott Guy had been shot.
“I remember thinking ‘how did Ewen know Scott had been shot’ when he was down at the cordon,” said the victim’s sister, Nikki Guy. “I thought because he was at the cordon how close did he get to see Scott, and I thought that David being first on the scene would have had a closer look.”
Scott Guy's widow Kylee didn't hear any gunshots that morning, but their son Hunter thought he heard his father coming up the driveway later that morning.
“He heard motorbikes,” said Kylee Guy. “So he got all excited, wanting dad. He wanted his dad. Every morning he ran down to meet Scott.”
Macdonald has admitted to vandalising Scott and Kylee Guy's house when it was being built, with offensive graffiti directed at Kylee Guy in 2009. He told police he did it because he thought it would be funny.
His lawyers say some bad decisions don't make Macdonald a murderer.
Macdonald's wife Anna has also given evidence. She will be called again throughout the trial.
The next phase of the trial will deal with the relationship between Ewen Macdonald and his brother-in-law and business partner, Scott Guy.
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