Warning: Details in the story may be distressing for some readers.
The detective who discovered Auckland man Denver Chance's body in a chest freezer says his gut feeling told him what he would find.
The Kingseat property where Auckland man Denver Chance's body was found. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The man accused of Chance's 2019 murder, Jay Lingman, is on trial in the High Court at Auckland.
He denies murdering Chance by fatally shooting him but has pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of drugs for supply.
The Crown argued Lingman shot Chance three times in the head before using a chainsaw to contort the body into the freezer.
The defence's case was the two men were drug-dealers and Lingman was acting in self-defence after Chance believed he was being ripped off.
Detective Senior Sergeant Callum McNeill, who found Chance's body, was answering questions from Crown prosecutor Gareth Kayes in court today and recalled the police search that led to the discovery.
He said he went with two other officers to visit Lingman's property in Kingseat, south of Auckland. No one was at the house, so McNeill checked out a shed with another officer.
He said CCTV cameras were installed on the outside of the shed, which he thought was strange because the house did not have cameras.
A security fence also encircled the shed.
There was a large cool room inside the shed, similar to a commercial kitchen cold room.
McNeill said it was pitch black inside and he turned on a torch to look around.
What the light revealed was what McNeill described as a clandestine drug lab and a cannabis grow room, with lights hanging on chains attached to the ceiling and a ventilation system.
He recalled seeing cannabis plant leaves and stalk inside a bucket, but no plants were being grown at that time.
He spotted two pill pressers along with bowls and a granite mortar and pestle which he believed was used to make MDMA pills.
On their way out, McNeill noticed the chest freezer with what appeared to be a blood smear on the lid.
He said this stopped him in his tracks and he went back to look at the freezer.
Because the house was in a rural location, McNeill said his first thought was that the blood might have been from a recent home kill where an animal had been butchered for consumption.
"But my gut feeling was that Denver was inside," he said.
He said he instantly recognised Chance by a distinctive tattoo and chunky watch he was wearing.
McNeill was shocked and said it took him a moment to process what he was looking at.
MDMA, cocaine among drugs found on property
Earlier, Detective Anna Fager, who examined Lingman's property, laid out some of the illicit drugs discovered on the property.
Answering questions from the Crown prosecutor, Fager said multiple bags containing a total of about 55 grams of cocaine were among the substances found at the property.
Fager said 8.1g of MDMA was found in the shed and 7.6g of MDMA crystals were found under Lingman's bed.
About 200 green tablets containing MDMA were also found.
A ziplock bag carrying about 750g of diphenidine - a dissociative drug - was also located in his fridge.
A number of debt collector letters were also found at the property addressed to Lingman.
The trial before Justice Melanie Harland and a jury of eight men and four women continues.
