The widow of slain Feilding farmer Scott Guy is refusing to give up the fight to find who killed her husband and has partnered with the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
Ms Guy is working with the Trust to review the case after her brother-in-law Ewen Macdonald was last week acquitted of murdering her husband.
One of the areas they are examining is a defendant’s right to silence during a trial whereby they don’t have to take the stand.
The Trust’s spokesperson Garth McVicar says even though the right to silence has been a core principle of the justice system, it doesn’t mean its appropriateness cannot be questioned.
Mr McVicar says in the UK, a jury can take into account whether or not a defendant takes the stand as part of their deliberation. In New Zealand, they cannot.
“The Guy case has been the tipping point - that is the vibe I’m getting back. I’ve never had the number of lawyers and barristers contacting me saying ‘we’re ashamed of this’,” he told Radio New Zealand.
He wants to sit down with police, prosecution and defence to find an outcome to the ordeal and what should be done to catch the killer.
If not, a private investigator will be hired and a special team will be formed to go through all the evidence from the trial with fine-tooth comb, he says.
“We’ve got our feelers out there for the appropriate people to come on board. I’ve been contacted by a number of lawyers and barristers who say they are ashamed to be part of this system.
“As a nation, we can’t accept that this is as good as we can get,” he says.
Mr McVicar says a murderer is probably walking around free and Kylee Guy won't accept that.
“She’s not prepared to wave the white flag, she’s not prepared to accept that that’s the final chapter and that there’s no way forward,” he says.
Even if new evidence were to be uncovered, any application for a retrial would need to be approved by the Solicitor General.
Ewen Macdonald will be back in court at the end of the month, where a sentencing date will be set for the charges he has admitted.
They include poaching two deer, burning down a farmhouse and vandalising Scott Guy's new home. He is also facing three other charges, but the details of those remain suppressed.
Police say no one else is being sought in relation to Scott Guy’s death.
3 News