Murder of Scott Guy

Scott Guy was shot to death at the gate of the family farm in Feilding, New Zealand in July 2010. Six months later, his brother-in-law, Ewen Macdonald, was charged with the murder. Macdonald's wife was Scott Guy's sister Anna, and Scott had been best man at their wedding. Both men managed the Guys' family farm and surrounding properties on Aorangi Road a few miles from Feilding.

Macdonald was defended by high-profile defence lawyer, Greg King. After a trial that captured the attention of the New Zealand media and public, Macdonald was found not guilty. King attributed the public's interest in the case to "unadulterated racism" as the victim and the accused were "good looking white people". Two months later, King himself was found dead; the coroner's inquiry ruled his death a suicide.

The police alleged that Macdonald had held a grudge against Scott after the latter returned from outback Australia in 2008 and said he wanted to inherit the farm. There was an ongoing rivalry between the two. Because of the tension, Scott's father Bryan Guy called a number of family meetings to clear the air. Scott was given responsibility for raising the calves and growing the crops for the cows. Macdonald was given responsibility for the dairy side of the business. The tension appeared to have subsided and Bryan Guy reported that in the previous 12 months "everyone seemed to be getting along really well." Two weeks before the murder, MacDonald and Scott travelled to Invercargill together for a dairying conference. Nikki Guy, Scott's other sister, said the pair had a "fantastic time". At the trial, the Crown alleged Scott still wanted to take control of the farm and went to one particular family meeting with an agenda outlining his demands. The prosecutor claimed "this might as well have been his death warrant".

One of the Guy's former farm workers, Callum Boe, subsequently told police that he and Macdonald used to go on hunting trips they referred to as "missions". He told police that on one mission in October 2008, they torched an old home on Scott's section. In January 2009, about 18 months before the murder, they vandalised a home being built by Scott and his wife Kylee, causing $14,000 worth of damage. At the time no one but Boe and Macdonald knew who was responsible.

Scott Guy was shot dead at the end of his driveway after he stopped to open a farm gate early in the morning of 8 July 2010. He died from shotgun wounds to his neck, face and arm. His body was discovered by truck driver David Berry at about 7.00am. Mr Berry called the police at 7.08am and then called his landlord, Bruce Johnstone. When Johnstone arrived, he took a quick look at the body and phoned Macdonald at 7.16am; two police cars soon arrived and Macdonald arrived on his quadbike shortly after that. Macdonald immediately rang Scott's father at 7.21am sounding distressed and incoherent.

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Wikipedia