P MADE KILLER 'INVINCIBLE'

Double murderer Ese Junior Falealii felt invincible after taking the
drug P, says a forensic psychiatrist who heard him give evidence in
court.

The drug also made Falealii irritable, but improved his recall of
events.

Dr Ian Goodwin listened as Falealii testified against three
accomplices over five days in a 12-week case that ended in the High
Court at Auckland last weekend.

The Crown had asked Dr Goodwin to assess the effects of P on
Falealii's memory in case defence lawyers claimed - as had happened at
the depositions hearing - that taking P made his recall unreliable.

In the end, the prosecution decided Dr Goodwin would not be needed as
an expert witness.

Following the conviction of Joseph Sam Samoa and William Logan
Johansson as accomplices in the murder of pizza worker Marcus Doig and
ASB Bank teller John Vaughan in May last year, and the manslaughter
conviction against Pago Savaiinaea over Mr Vaughan's killing, Dr
Goodwin has spoken of his findings.

Falealii, who gave evidence for the Crown, told of being given P
before embarking on some of the eight robberies in which he was involved.

He told Crown prosecutor Christine Gordon that the drug did not cause
hallucinations or voices in his head.

"It's not like smoking pot or heroin or coke. It's a totally different
drug.

"It doesn't give you a buzz. Sometimes you don't even know you are
buzzing.

"It kind of takes a bit of fear away, boosts your adrenalin and makes
you hyped up and keeps you up for ages and makes you do things you
don't normally do when you are straight." Dr Goodwin said people took
P, or crystallised methamphetamine, because it made them feel alert.

Falealii did not appear to suffer any significant "nasty psychotic
effects" such as becoming delusional. Nor did the drug bring up any
"dark demons" from his psyche.

"What happened to him was most likely what a lot of people who use
stimulants, and in particular P, describe.

"They describe increased confidence, a feeling of invincibility, but
they can also describe increased irritability as well, so they are
less tolerant.

"So you can see how those individual features might combine if you are
holding a gun."

Dr Goodwin noted that Falealii had become irritated during both the
pizza parlour and ASB robberies.

"This guy was feeling 'up high', a bit irritable and a bit
short-tempered as well, so less likely to consider anything,
particularly with Mr Vaughan because he was having trouble opening the
[cash] drawer."

Dr Goodwin said that he had been approached to assess the effect of P
on Falealii's memory.

Research had shown that people who were not habitual users "and who
have not really fried their brains - and he [Falealii] had a fairly
short use - have an enhanced recall of events".

Asked if Falealii would have killed if he had not been on P, Dr
Goodwin replied: "God only knows, really."

Considering his history of robberies - but without significant
violence - "if you add in the P, you add in the circumstances of a
couple of older guys goading him a bit, and egging him on, his
deprived background, you put all that together and you have got a
potent mix".

Inquiry head Detective Inspector Steve Rutherford said P was just one
factor in the killings.

"It would have given him Dutch courage."