Murder-accused Ewen Macdonald says murdering Scott Guy would not have achieved anything, "in fact it made things worse''.
Ewen has pleaded not guilty to shooting his brother-in-law twice in the throat in the pre-dawn darkness on his driveway on July 8, 2010. He is on trial for murder at the High Court in Wellington.
The Crown alleges Ewen murdered Scott against a backdrop of tension over the future of both men at the Feilding farm.
The jury has been watching the police DVD interview with Ewen.
They are now watching police question Ewen about the morning Scott was shot.
Detective Laurie Howell urged him to talk.
"If I wanted to murder Scott, I don't think that would achieve anything, in fact it made things worse," Ewen said.
"I had nothing to do with it.
"I wouldn't take someone's life, I'm not that extreme."
Ewen said it only took five minutes to bike up to Scott's place.
Howell said he was the only logical person that fitted. Macdonald agreed, but did not admit to the shooting.
"Do you think you are going to walk out of here today without being charged with murder?'' Detective Glen Jackson asked him.
"I'd say you're going to charge me with murder, but it doesn't matter, I'm not guilty," Ewen replied.
He asked if there was someone else out there who had killed Scott.
Police told him they would give him a chance to tell them the truth about what happened on July 8.
"I've told you the truth, I've come clean about the other stuff,'' he said.
He said malicious letters left in letterboxes concerned him and wondered about someone else out there.
"I guess I won't be going home tonight," Ewen asked police near the end of the interview. Howell said he doubted it and that Macdonald would appear in court the next day.
Earlier, the court heard him agree with police that if they found the person responsible for the arson and graffiti they would find the murderer.
In the police interview he answered: "I guess so, it makes sense, it's all aimed at Scott and Kylee.''
Howell asked: "Did you go and do that damage to the house?"
"No, no," Ewen replied.
"Do you know anything about it?'' Howell asked.
Again Ewen replied, "no, no''.
But later in the interview Ewen admitted the offending with Callum Boe, who the Crown had alleged was working with Ewen to try and drive the Guys from the family farm.
The court heard Ewen tell police he thought it would be funny to torch the old house on Scott and Kylee's property.
Ewen made the admission after several hours of questioning by Howell and after being confronted with what Boe had told police.
Ewen said it had been a normal day at work and they had organised to go up and "just set it alight''.
"Yeah, so we did that.''
He maintained it was not directed at Scott and Kylee. However, graffiti on Scott and Kylee's new house was his idea and was more directed at the couple, Ewen said.
Obscene words were painted the home by both Ewen and Boe before they drove to Ruakaka.
Ewen said they used paint from around the farm and later ditched it in Taupo.
He told Howell he was holding a grudge over what he saw as an unfair partnership with Scott.
Howell asked Ewen what was going through his mind as he was torching the house and scrawling obscene words on Scott and Kylee's new home.
"I don't know if it was about the new house. It was about the whole, it wasn't a fair partnership, flogged-my-guts-out, worked-my-arse-off thing,'' he said.
He said he was still holding a bit of a grudge and was disappointed that Scott was getting more time at home than he was.
He told the police he and Boe used pushbikes at night to commit both acts.
The police interview moved on to malicious letters left in a letterbox but Ewen denied knowing about it.
He told Howell he could see how it looked, having admitted to the arson and writing the obscene words.
However he did not admit to the killing, "straight up, I honestly didn't".
Howell said it looked like a sustained campaign of intimidation.
"I can see the finger points at me,'' Ewen said. He agreed he did not have an alibi for the morning of the killing.
Earlier in the interview, Ewen said he knew about the surveillance Scott had set up and had been caught on the camera himself.
He told Howell he was not quite sure where the camera was.
Ewen said they were part of a neighbourhood watch and had been getting emails about suspicious cars and vans on the road.
Yesterday Ewen said he also knew Scott had bought a shotgun for protection.
In the interview police also questioned Ewen about phone calls from Boe at the time of the arson of the old house on Scott's property.
Howell asked him about a call Ewen received from Boe at 10.57 on the night of the arson. The call came from Feilding.
Ewen said he could not remember what the call was about.
Howell said the Fire Service got the call to the fire at midnight.
