The half-brother of a toddler whose body was found dumped in a sewage pond has denied dumping him there.
Lachie Jones disappeared from his mother’s home in Gore, on the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, on the evening of 29 January 2019.
Lachie’s body was found in a council oxidation pond by a police dog handler after a two-hour search.
An inquest into his death has been launched, despite two separate police investigations finding that Lachie drowned in the pond after wandering away from his mother’s home nearby.
Lachie’s second-oldest brother, Johnathan Scott, 21, previously led the inquiry in the Invercargill Court in May when he refuted claims he kept Lachie’s body in a freezer until he decided what to do with it before allegedly dumping it in the sewage pond.
On Wednesday, the allegations were raised again against Scott during questioning by Mr Jones’s lawyer regarding claims about an alleged conversation and social media messages sent to a friend. Stuff reported.
Appearing via audio-visual link, Scott insisted he did not dispose of Lachie’s body.
‘No, definitely not,’ he replied when asked by police barrister Robin Bates.
The body of three-year-old Lachie Jones (pictured) was found in a sewage pond after an extensive two-hour search by police.
Lachie Jones (pictured with his parents) died on 29 January 2019.
The court also heard from a woman who accused her former friend Tyler Tremaine of telling her that Scott had told him he had allegedly murdered Lachie.
The woman, whose name has been suppressed, detailed to the court what Tremaine is suspected of telling her about how Scott allegedly killed Lachie.
“He said he (Scott) grabbed him, picked him up and hit him,” the woman told the inquest.
“He did the instructions with his hands and everything. It disgusted me.”
The woman revealed that she texted Tremaine after hearing about Lachie’s death on the news.
The text messages were presented to the court.
The second phase of the investigation into the tragic death of Lachie Jones continues
“Remember you said Johnny (Johnathan) Scott said he (allegedly) threw that kid in the pond? Honestly bro! It’s all over the damn news,” he wrote.
Tremaine replied, “Yeah, I told you, haha.”
The woman sent Tremaine another text message urging him to report the alleged incident to police, but Tremaine is believed to have said he did not want to get involved.
Tremaine, who also testified at the hearing, denied sending the text messages.
He told the police attorney that he only said he did not want to talk about the alleged incident with the woman.
Tremaine said the only conversation he had with Scott was after Lachie’s death, when Scott allegedly said he couldn’t have met Lachie because he was dead.
The boy went missing from his mother’s home in Gore (pictured), on the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, on the night of January 29, 2019.
When asked if it was possible that Tremaine made up the text messages, the woman became upset and questioned the validity of the suggestion.
He added that the test was in black and white.
“It’s two types of evidence in one, if you think about it, because he’s confirming what he said verbally and he’s confirming it again through text,” he said.
The woman became angry when Lachie’s mother’s lawyer asked her if it was possible Tremaine had made up his comments.
“Why would you make up something about someone’s little brother drowning? It’s sick,” the woman replied.
Scott denied ever having a conversation with Tremaine about the alleged incident and never “joked” about it.
Lachie’s father (pictured centre), Paul Jones (pictured left), maintains his son was allegedly murdered and an investigation has been launched into his son’s death.
He said during the investigation that his family has been tainted by many accusations about what happened.
“I think it’s disgusting because I love my little brother,” Scott said.
The second phase of the investigation continues and will conclude on August 21.