Who Killed Scott Guy?

by Mike White

  Scott’s job on Byreburn meant he spent much of his time working on his own, on the tractor, away at the back of the farm. Gradually, a sense grew among the other workers that Scott had the easier role and wasn’t pulling his weight. While Scott would work long hours at cropping time, Macdonald calculated he was working 1000 hours more a year than Scott. ‘Here I was,’ Macdonald later wrote, ‘with two young children, still doing long hours on the farm, 4.30 am—6 pm, plus checking cows calving during the season at all hours of the night. And then there was Scott, starting at 7.30 am and finishing at 4 pm and having a lot less of a workload and in my opinion, a cruisier job.’

  Farm consultant Simon Redmond noticed the difference between the two. ‘Ewen was streets ahead and more technically competent than Scott. He could have held down a job anywhere. He was a seriously good operator.’ Redmond felt the farm’s success owed more to Macdonald. ‘My view was that [Scott] was a good operator—but not startling.’ However, Redmond was aware Scott had a different view. One of Redmond’s clients reported having dinner with Scott and Kylee and Scott describing Ewen as the useless one. Whoever was responsible, the farm was very successful, often being used as an example of a good business for Fonterra’s visitors. As Redmond put it, ‘Byreburn is a farm that is operating at the top level. Byreburn is running at three times the industry average for the Manawatu in terms of output, which is why they can have three families on the farm.’

  By 2006 Bryan Guy was looking at giving his children a shareholding in the farm and thought it would be a good idea to get everyone together to discuss it. So in May that year he hired a Feilding motel unit and brought in professional facilitator David Beca, with the idea that all three couples on the farm—Bryan and Jo, Ewen and Anna, and Scott and Kylee—could outline their hopes and plans for the future.

  Everyone was taken aback, however, when Scott said he expected to inherit the farm. Bryan was completely surprised and wondered if his son had perhaps been watching too much TV. ‘It certainly wasn’t the expectation that Joanne and I had.’

  Bryan explained how he and his father Grahame had a 50:50 partnership for 25 years and that when Grahame retired, Bryan had purchased his share of the farm. By the end of the meeting he felt the idea had been put to bed and Scott understood the farm wasn’t going to become his by right. Everyone agreed to talk more, have more meetings and formalise the partnership.

  But some concerns continued. Macdonald was unhappy Scott had the job of rearing calves and felt Scott did a rushed job so he could get home. He also believed Scott was being paid more than him. Others sensed competition between the two was increasing, with rivalry to see who could do a better job on the farm.

  Anna felt Scott was jealous of the family she and Ewen had created and also envious of the relationship Ewen and her father had—pointing out how similar they were and how well they got on. On the other hand, Kylee felt she and Scott were being treated unfairly, later stating, ‘There were times for Scott and me where we felt Scott’s mum and dad were helping and giving more to Ewen and Anna than to Scott and me, which was hard. At one point, Scott was just so unhappy because Ewen was pretty much getting a lot more than Scott, who is actually their son.’

  Tension had also arisen over the family home where all the children had been brought up. By 2008 Bryan and Jo had decided to move into Feilding and paid $800,000 for a house there. Given that Anna and Ewen were living in a small farm cottage with three children and another on the way, it seemed logical they should purchase and shift into the family house at 147 Aorangi Road. To help them, Bryan and Jo provided a $250,000 loan on generous terms.

  But Scott claimed he’d not been included in discussions, wondered why the house hadn’t been offered to him, and resented Anna and Ewen moving into the home he’d grown up in. He was also negative about Bryan and Jo shifting, suggesting they’d paid too much for their new house, pointing out there wasn’t a spa pool and saying it was too small, with not enough room for a cricket pitch for the grandkids. Anna remembers at one stage Scott told his parents they’d changed. ‘He said they were too flash for everyone else.’

  In June 2008 the three couples met again to discuss how the farm was to be run. To the surprise of the other couples, Scott arrived with an agenda outlining his frustrations and concerns, including how he felt upset at Anna and Ewen getting a house while he and Kylee had received nothing.

  ‘I was quite shocked because I just thought it was a basic meeting,’ recalled Anna. ‘He was pretty fired up. He said things like, “Why has Anna got stuff—she’s never worked a day on the farm.” I was pretty hurt at the time. Scott also said that Mum and Dad should build him and Kylee a house on the farm or gift them money because Ewen and I got a “sweet deal”.’

  Later Anna noted it was unlike Scott to react like this and she wondered if Kylee had pushed him to say these things. Ewen was equally shocked but didn’t say anything as Bryan tried to calm everyone. Afterwards, they wrote a response to Scott’s outburst and at the next meeting Anna tearfully read it out. With Kylee not present, Anna felt her brother was much more reasonable.

  Several things were decided: Scott would have to start helping with milking even though he didn’t like it, to even up the hours worked on the farm; Bryan and Jo would help Scott and Kylee into a home; and Scott and Ewen would get paid the same—around $100,000.

  Also at this time, the two younger couples each took a 10 per cent stake in the farm at a cost of $280,000, leaving Bryan and Jo with the remaining 80 per cent. The plan was that by 2015, Anna and Ewen, and Scott and Kylee, would each increase their shareholding to 20 per cent. Ultimately, Bryan saw the couples each owning 30 per cent of Byreburn and him and Jo keeping 40 per cent. His intention was always that things would be equal between the two younger couples.

  But while things had seemingly been sorted and smoothed, little issues rankled. Scott felt he wasn’t listened to, the staff weren’t coordinated well by Ewen and that he could run the farm better. Callum Guy remembers Scott saying he was unhappy that Ewen had shares in the farm and felt he was trying to take over, when Scott wanted ownership to be between himself and Bryan. Scott’s sister Nikki also recalled Scott often moaning about Macdonald and at a December 2008 concert in Martinborough drunkenly telling her Macdonald was the worst thing that had happened to the Guy family.

  On the other hand, Anna and Ewen resented Scott buying clothes for himself and Hunter and charging them to the farm account when they paid for such things themselves. Likewise, Scott used a farm petrol card for his own vehicle whereas Anna and Ewen paid for their own fuel.

  And there was still resentment that Scott constantly left work early to go home to be with Kylee and Hunter, leaving others to do his work. This wasn’t a view just held by Macdonald. Even Bryan Guy said that at the time of Hunter’s birth, he realised Scott wasn’t doing enough around the farm. Anna noted that ‘Scott almost became obsessed with Hunter and wanted to be at home all the time and wanted to help out and wanted to bath him and wanted to do pretty much everything. So I think it was almost a build-up, of skiving off for that last half-hour or that last hour of the day.’

  This simmering disgruntlement came to a head in September 2009. To mark the fifth anniversary of Jo and Nikki’s clothing boutique, Reve, an evening function was organised at the shop with family and best customers invited. During milking on the farm that afternoon, Scott left early, asking workers Simon Asplin and Sheryl Brown to finish up for him as he had to get ready for the function.

  Macdonald, who was also keen to finish work and go to the party, was angry when he learnt of this, believing it wasn’t fair that the extra work was left for them and feeling that if Scott had stayed, they could both have got to the function on time. Then a mechanic arrived who Macdonald had to talk to and it made him even later.

  By the time Ewen and Anna reached the shop, the main function was over and the family were moving next door to a café for dinner. Scott was sitting down with a drink, having arrived mu
ch earlier. Macdonald went up to him and gave him a burst about leaving early and not helping finish the work. Scott slammed his drink down, said, ‘I don’t have to sit here and listen to this shit,’ and stormed off, grabbing Kylee and Hunter on his way and telling them they were leaving. While some felt Scott overreacted, most felt it was inappropriate to raise work issues at that time and that the incident had spoilt the evening. Even Macdonald admitted he should have talked about it with Scott elsewhere, and apologised to him the following morning at milking.

  But the outburst was a sign of how testy things had become on the farm between the two former friends. Rivalry, competition, distrust—call it what you will, the relationship had become strained at times. Farm consultant Simon Redmond later told police there had been incredible jealousy between the pair who were once like twins. ‘Scott and Ewen used to be best mates but they were no longer best mates at the end.’

  Police were aware of the growing strain between Macdonald and Scott from the dozens of interviews they had conducted with family and farm workers. Right from the start, Kylee Guy had remarked on tension between the pair. The day after the murder she told police that Scott had considered moving off the farm if the situation didn’t improve. A few days later, however, she added more context, saying, ‘Scott and Ewen did get along pretty well under the circumstances, though, and I think that’s because Scott is such a lovely guy.’

  But as time went on and she reflected, Kylee’s views of her brother-in-law became less generous. While she noted that many of the problems on the farm were due to poor communication, she laid the blame mainly with Macdonald. When rating their communication skills she gave Macdonald two, Bryan Guy five, and her husband six or seven.

  By early February 2011 she told police Macdonald was very secretive, jealous of Scott and didn’t socialise much. ‘He just didn’t talk, and had an unusual personality.’ Kylee pointed to an 80th birthday party for Scott’s grandparents, when Macdonald refused to be in family photos, and his reluctance to be filmed during TV programmes about Scott’s death, as evidence of his extraordinary behaviour. She also raised the possibility that Macdonald was behind the arson, damage to their new house and threatening notes, which Kylee had no knowledge of until after Scott’s death.

  On its own, it was easy to put the friction between Macdonald and Scott down to the stress of working together, the kinds of niggles that occur in virtually every family or business. But now, combined with suggestions Macdonald may have lied about his whereabouts during the arson and vandalism attacks against Scott and Kylee’s houses, these supposedly peculiar actions by Macdonald took on a more sinister pall.

  Macdonald had already been extensively interviewed on several occasions but police had little reason to suspect his involvement in the earlier crimes—until the information about Callum Boe surfaced. Boe, too, had been interviewed after the murder, denying any knowledge of crimes against Scott and Kylee. But it quickly emerged that Boe had previously bragged to his workmates about some of the crimes he’d committed with Macdonald, including poaching and burning down an abandoned house. Too stupid to realise what he was doing was wrong, too dumb to shut his mouth about it, Boe was destined to be caught out eventually.

  On Saturday, 2 April 2011, Detective Sergeant Grayson Joines and Detective James Bugg from Palmerston North, and Detective John Dale, who’d been seconded to Operation Yellow from Whanganui CIB, flew to Queenstown. Early the next morning they knocked on Boe’s door and asked if they could speak to him. Boe replied that he was aware they might want to talk to him again and went to the police station with them.

  There, he spilt his guts. Over two interviews, that Sunday and two days later, he admitted that he and Macdonald had torched the old house when it was waiting to be shifted and had then taken to Scott and Kylee’s new house with a splitting axe before daubing it with obscene graffiti. Boe also admitted the pair had shot and stolen two trophy stags from a nearby deer farm owned by Craig Hocken and had poached deer from Graham Sexton’s farm on numerous occasions.

  When they were caught poaching on Sexton’s farm, they sought revenge by sneaking onto the farm and dumping 16,000 litres of milk from a vat and burning down his 110-year-old duck-shooting hut known as the whare. They also killed 19 calves on the neighbouring farm of Paul Barber, who had been involved in nabbing them for poaching.

  The 21-year-old Boe did his best to minimise his culpability, downplaying his own role in the attacks and heaping responsibility on Macdonald as the older person, his employer and the one who initiated the ‘missions’. He said he was intimidated by Macdonald and just went along with him, and hadn’t even written the graffiti on Scott and Kylee’s house because ‘I can’t spell’—an ironic claim given four of the five words were misspelt. Instead, Boe explained his actions by saying it was ‘just being young and stupid, I guess’, although he eventually added, ‘Well, I am sorry . . . I’ve only got myself to blame and I did what I did.’

  But before he finished unburdening himself he lobbed one last explosive claim at his former mate. When police asked him what his theories and opinions were, Boe replied, ‘I think that Ewen Macdonald shot Scott Guy, and that’s just spinning in my head. And it’s just a theory, that is, like my gut is telling me that.’

  Suddenly, another dimension of Ewen Macdonald was laid bare—not the hardworking, quiet school trustee and family man, not the man who coached his kids’ rugby team and didn’t smoke or drink, not the top farmer and patient father, but a callous, dangerous criminal driven by hatred and revenge. Someone who was determined to drive Scott and Kylee off the farm by threat and intimidation. Someone who had the motive, opportunity and weaponry to kill Scott.

  Schwalger and her team were convinced they’d finally found their man.

  On the morning of Thursday, 7 April 2011, nine months after the police investigation began and just two days after their final interview with Boe, detectives Laurie Howell and Glen Jackson arrived at Ewen Macdonald’s house at breakfast-time. Macdonald had just finished milking and the officers said they wanted him to come with them to Palmerston North Police Station for a further interview. So he bolted down some Weet-Bix, grabbed his jersey and climbed into their car. On the short journey into town they made small talk—rural talk—about harvesting, yields, cropping and cattle.

  By 9.20 am they had settled in a small interview room. Howell sat across the table from Macdonald doing most of the questioning, with Jackson at the end of the table observing and adding the odd comment. The interview was videoed, and Macdonald was read his rights on numerous occasions and reminded he could contact a lawyer at any time.

  Macdonald had previously admitted to poaching deer after helicoptering into land near Taihape in April 2009, for which he and Boe had received diversion for unlawful hunting. And he’d also fessed up to regularly poaching on the Sexton farm with Boe, something police were aware of because the pair had been caught and trespassed from the land. So at the beginning of the interview Macdonald again outlined how he and Boe had gone on their ‘missions’ at night, sneaking in from the beach to the forest and farmland in search of deer. But that was all he admitted to, convincingly denying any involvement in the other crimes in which Boe had implicated him.

  For several hours the police went through these matters and Macdonald repeated his answers and alibis. But gradually Howell started to point to inconsistencies in his statements, and then produced phone and bank records that conflicted with Macdonald’s story of his whereabouts when the arson and vandalism had occurred. Often the officers would say nothing for a time, creating a silence that Macdonald felt obliged to fill with something he’d just remembered or other reasoning.

  As Howell slowly, icily revealed the police hand, Macdonald began struggling to maintain his façade of innocence. Increasingly restless, he stripped off his jersey and drank a bottle of water quickly. To the police watching the interview, he was clearly becoming uncomfortable, a big man trapped in a small room being trapped by the convolu
ted tales he’d created for years.

  At around 2.30 pm, after nearly five hours of questioning, Howell eventually played his ace, telling Macdonald they’d spoken to Boe. ‘Given that I know what he told us,’ said Howell, ‘and that you don’t know what he’s told us—if he was with you during any of this offending and he’s told the truth about it, what do you think he’s said?’

  Macdonald made one last attempt to deny his involvement, one last feigning of innocence, saying Boe would have told them he had nothing to do with any of the crimes.

  ‘Well he didn’t say that,’ countered Howell. ‘What do you think he said?’ he repeated.

  ‘He said he was probably involved . . . He was there doing it all,’ Macdonald replied, his voice now quiet, suddenly stripped of the bravado of denial.

  ‘Yep, he did,’ continued Howell. ‘With who?’

  ‘Me,’ Macdonald admitted meekly.

  What followed was a humiliating outpouring, as Macdonald put years of lying and hiding behind him and confessed to the arsons, vandalism, poaching, dumping of milk and killing of calves. When asked why, though, he could give little clear reasoning. Shooting Craig Hocken’s stags was a challenge. Dumping the milk, burning the duck-shooting hut and killing the calves were retaliation for being caught trespassing. They burnt down the old McKinnon house because they ‘just thought that it would be funny’. And the attack on Scott and Kylee’s new house? ‘I don’t know, we’re just, you know, doing it,’ he said, before admitting it was ‘mindless stupidity’.

  Macdonald did, however, suggest he was harbouring a grudge against Scott, saying the partnership wasn’t fair and he ‘was working my arse off’ while Scott spent a lot more time at home. But while Macdonald was surprisingly forthcoming about the details of these crimes, he staunchly denied any knowledge of the threatening notes, and was adamant he hadn’t killed Scott. ‘It looks obvious these leading up to events, but you know, I’m not that blimmin’—I’m not a psycho.’