Banjo Used to Kill
A 67-year old gay man in Auckland, New Zealand, was beaten to death with a banjo in his own apartment after taking home a tourist he met at his local bar.
32-year old Hungarian tourist Ferdinand Ambach (below right) is being charged with the murder of New Zealand citizen Ronald Brown. Attending the High Court in Auckland, Ambach’s trial began on Monday and is set to continue for three weeks, including a bus tour of the murder scene for members of the jury.
The two men reportedly met at 306 Bar on December 7, 2007. 32-year old Ambach had been in New Zealand a month and when the pair left the bar together around 9pm the evening of the incident, witnesses say both seemed to be in good spirits. Before heading back to Brown’s apartment the two stopped at a liqueur store where they bought more alcohol.
Authorities were first alerted to a problem when they received calls from Brown’s neighbours in his apartment block. After they had heard loud banging and felt vibrations through the walls, Brown’s neighbours had reportedly called his flat to ask what was happening and if he was okay. According to the New Zealand Herald, Brown hesitated before saying, ”[the] prick’s broken the door” and asked his neighbours to call the police.
Police arrived at the scene but reportedly couldn’t find any disturbance. They returned at about 1am when neighbours of Brown phoned again. When police arrived the second time, they saw Ambach push a double bed out the window of Brown’s apartment.
When police found Brown he was covered in furniture and glass and had been beaten with a banjo, the neck of the broken instrument had been repeatedly rammed down his throat. Still alive, Brown reportedly sounded as if he was snoring, attempting to breath around the neck of the banjo. Brown died three days later after his life-support was switched off.
It is suspected that Brown assumed Ambach was gay when he agreed to accompany the 67-year old home. Ambach told police that he only remembers flashes of the night, including Brown reaching for his groin and chasing him around a table. Nurses present in the ambulance on the way to hospital to treat a cut to Ambach’s hand reported him saying “I should have killed him, I should have killed him. I’m going to kill you,” according to GayNZ.com.
Prosecutors have said that the trial’s jury will need to decide whether the incident was murder, or manslaughter caused by involuntary actions as a result of fear or possible drink-spiking.
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jimjazz
said ages ago