James Arthur Holder has been found guilty of murdering David Bridgwater, who was fatally shot in the abdomen outside an Aranui home in Christchurch on January 4, 2024.
Holder, who claimed self-defence, was accused by the Crown of acting with “murderous intent” after waiting over an hour in a garage with a loaded firearm.
The court heard that Bridgwater, intoxicated after attending Juicy Fest, had been asked to leave Holder’s house several times before being shot during a street altercation. The defence argued Holder fired a warning shot after being attacked with a metal pole, but the Crown said evidence tampering—including the destruction of CCTV footage—showed guilt.
Ah, yes…good ol’ Aranui…
Like Philipstown, and several near-east neighbourhoods, simmering tensions boiling over due to economic hardship, marginalisation, and blacklisting.
Noteworthy is how the young women of Aranui seek out the boys from Merivale, Fendalton, Ilam, and Clarkville so that they can marry or ‘partner’ into financial security.
Many spend their entire lives focusing on just that, as opposed to self-betterment via uni or tech school.
But then again, there are no liveable wage jobs, and soon even the boys from thse ‘upper-class’ areas will soon lose their jobs, careers and vocations to A.I. and robots.
Then, we can all gather back at Aranui and smell the sewerage plant, and enjoy ‘small goods barbcues’ while the midges land in your food, nose, ears, and other unmentionable places that always get exposed during ‘boy-snaring’…!