WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A trial opened Monday for a man accused of murdering five people in Wellington, New Zealand, by deliberately setting fire to a boarding house that was nearly full when the blaze swept through the building.
The 50-year-old man, whose name was suppressed for the duration of the trial at the High Court in Wellington, has pleaded not guilty to murder and arson charges for allegedly starting the May 2023 fire that killed five men at Loafers Lodge, a 92-bed hostel.
His lawyers have indicated they will rely on an insanity defense, which would mean he was incapable of understanding what he was doing or that it was wrong when he allegedly lit two fires in the multistorey boarding house. The defense team will not make a case until later in the trial, which is expected to run for five weeks.
Prosecutor Stephanie Bishop rejected the case for an insanity defense during opening arguments Monday. She said the defendant lived in the building for a week but did not want to stay there and lit the fires in an attempt to seek a transfer to other accommodation.
Bishop told the jury that the accused knew the potential consequences of his actions, New Zealand news outlets reported. The prosecutor said the man set a couch ablaze late in the evening, prompting an evacuation of the building.
After residents put out the fire, the man returned and placed cushions and a blanket in a cupboard before setting them alight, Bishop said, adding that the man left the building without raising the alarm or calling emergency services.
Some of the boarding house residents included social services clients and older, disabled and otherwise vulnerable people, as well as nurses working at a nearby hospital. The burned-out building remains standing in the district of Newtown, near the central city of New Zealand’s capital.
The men who died were all residents and included colorful and well-known Wellington identities. Michael Wahrlich was a veteran busker who juggled tennis balls and Liam Hockings’ daily foot tours of the area made him a familiar face to locals. The other three victims were Kenneth Barnard, Peter O’Sullivan and Melvin Parun.
Murder carries a mandatory life sentence in New Zealand, with judges required to set a prison term of at least 10 years before an offender can apply for parole. Arson carries a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.
Authorities filed manslaughter charges in June against four other people who law enforcement said were responsible for the boarding house's management and operation, including aspects of the fire safety system. They all deny the charges. A trial date hasn't been set.
The deaths provoked outrage in New Zealand about the dilapidated and often unregulated state of boarding houses, which mostly accommodate low-income people with few options. Officials said at the time that the residence had no fire sprinklers and building codes did not require installation of sprinklers in older buildings that would need to be retrofitted.
Dozens of old boarding houses like Loafers Lodge were found to have no sprinklers, officials found, and many did not have working smoke detection systems. The fire provoked a suite of reviews and inquiries, though no legal changes have been made.
One lawmaker is seeking cross-party support for a bill to establish a register for boarding houses and their owners and mandate record-keeping.
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