Three News
April 28 2008; 18:40

'Natural causes' killed 10-year-old, claims defence

George Evans Gwaze

The High Court trial for the man accused of killing and raping his 10-year-old niece has begun in the Christchurch High Court with the defence saying she died from an infection.

George Gwaze is accused of the murder and sexual violation of the HIV-positive Zimbabwean girl Charlene Makaza.

The defence's case is not that the police have charged the wrong man with Charlene Makaza's murder - they say she was not murdered at all

"There was no sexual assault," says Mr Gwaze's lawyer, Jonathon Eaton. "Charlene died of natural causes and the DNA that was found in those underpants could only have been caused by contamination.

Fifty-six-year-old George Evans Gwaze is on trial for the murder and sexual violation of his adopted daughter Charlene Makaza, who died in Christchurch Hospital in January last year.

The HIV-positive 10-year-old was found in her bed struggling for breath and foaming at the mouth in the early hours of January 5.

The Crown's case is she sustained massive genital injuries.

"The anal injuries would have resulted in Charlene being in significant pain," says Crown prosecutor Chris Lange. "To stop her crying out her face was smothered and she was prevented form breathing."

Scientists found Mr Gwaze's DNA on Charlene's underpants, but the defence claims it got there not during abuse but another way.

"What can happen is minute fractions of a bodily sample that contain a DNA profile whether it be hair saliva sperm, blood skins can transfer directly or indirectly from one surface to another," says Mr Eaton.

The defence says it is most likely Charlene died as a result of a massive infection.

They say her immune system was so compromised by her HIV her body could not fight it off and the injuries the Crown says were caused by sexual abuse were in fact the result of medical treatment.

The jury now has three weeks of evidence to hear from more than 60 witnesses.