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John Logo and Andew Fausia jailed for drug offenses uncovered during Adrian Selwyn murder investigation
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John Logo and Andew Fausia jailed for drug offenses uncovered during Adrian Selwyn murder investigation

The discovery of Selwyn’s body at Auckland’s Newmarket Motel last year was at first a mystery. But investigators quickly pieced together a narrative after viewing CCTV footage of the motel parking lot from about a week earlier.

Selwyn had asked to buy methamphetamine from Logo, who was recorded arriving at the motel in his orange Mazda Demio around 8 pm on March 7, 2023. About 15 minutes later, Selwyn contacted Logo to complain about the poor quality of the drug. Logo responded by proposing a “one-on-one” fight, picking up the Fausia brothers before returning to the motel, according to court documents.

“Come out,” they texted Selwyn when the trio arrived.

“Mr. Selwyn approached Mr. Logo, leaving a distance of approximately three feet between them,” court documents state. Mr. Logo quickly adopted a fighting stance and clenched his fists. “Mr Selwyn was standing with his hands at his sides and there is no indication in the footage that he intended to fight Mr Logo.”

Adrian "ahae" Selwyn was kicked in the head outside an Epsom motel in March 2023 and then dragged to his room so no one would notice or help him.
Adrian “Ajae” Selwyn was kicked in the head outside an Epsom motel in March 2023 and then dragged to his room so no one would notice or help him.

But seconds after the conversation between Logo and Selwyn, the youngest of the Fausia brothers kicked Selwyn in the head.

“Mr. Selwyn, who did not see or anticipate the assault and therefore did nothing to protect himself, was immediately unconscious and fell backwards, striking the back of his head on the pavement,” the documents state. “Mr Selwyn made no attempt to break his fall nor did any of the defendants.

“The group immediately approached Mr Selwyn and attempted to wake him.”

When he didn’t wake up, the group took Selwyn to his room and left him in his bed before leaving in the same car. Selwyn’s family requested a welfare check from hotel staff a week later after not hearing from him, at which point his body was found.

His death was determined to be the result of a brain hemorrhage caused by blunt force trauma to the head.

While investigating the death, police obtained text messages between Logo and Fausia’s older brother, indicating the two worked together in the methamphetamine trade. They sent messages about orders the day after Selwyn’s death, before his body was found. They supplied at least 5 grams of methamphetamine that month, agents determined from their messages.

Police executed search warrants at his homes in Mt Wellington, Ōtāhuhu and Glen Innes the following month.

At Logo’s home, officers found a purse next to his bed containing 55 grams of methamphetamine packaged for sale. An additional 8 grams were found in Logo, along with $5,000 in cash.

At Andrew Fausia’s home, police found 132 grams of methamphetamine and 15.7 grams of a substance commonly used by traffickers to dilute the drug before sale. They also located three firearms, including two shotguns that were hidden near the drugs in the kitchen, as well as ammunition and $19,000 in cash.

Fausia’s younger brother was found to have an additional 432 grams of methamphetamine in a red shoebox in his home, along with nearly $17,000 in cash and shotgun ammunition.

“In explanation of his actions when speaking to police, Mr. Logo acknowledged supplying methamphetamine to Mr. Selwyn and being at the location,” the agreed summary of facts for the case states. “He said he’s dealing methamphetamine to support his own drug habit.”

Logo pleaded guilty to five High Court charges: two counts of supplying methamphetamine that month to Selwyn and “unknown persons,” two counts of possessing methamphetamine for supply on the day the search warrants were executed, and one count of conspiracy with Fausia’s younger brother. to hurt Selwyn. He was also sentenced last week on two unrelated methamphetamine charges to which he had pleaded guilty in district court.

Meanwhile, Fausia’s older brother pleaded guilty to the same charge of supplying to “unknown persons” and five other charges related to contraband found in his home.

During last week’s sentencing it was noted that Andrew Fausia, 30, had 11 previous convictions, including for a group assault at Princes Wharf in February 2022 and careless driving under the influence of drink or drugs causing death. .

In 2013, when he was 19, he was driving the car of a friend, David Sionepulu, when he lost control and crashed into a fence in Orakai. Sionepulu died at the scene. impaled him through his torso by a steel rod.

Andrew Fausia pushes a photographer out of the way in February 2013 as he leaves Auckland District Court on charges relating to the death of David Sionepulu. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Andrew Fausia pushes a photographer out of the way in February 2013 as he leaves Auckland District Court on charges relating to the death of David Sionepulu. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Judge Ian Gault, however, agreed with defense attorney Jonathon Hudson that the previous crimes were irrelevant to the current crime. He declined to increase the sentence, but noted that the mention of past convictions was purposeful, ruling out any discount for prior good behavior.

Andrew Fausia received an initial sentence of four years and six months in prison, and his lawyer suggested he played a lesser role in drug trafficking than his co-accused.

“I accept that you acted under the direction of Mr. Logo on the two identified occasions,” Justice Gault responded. “However, the items located at your address (methamphetamine in plastic bags, cutting agent and a significant amount of cash) indicate an operational function of some scale and actual or expected financial advantage.”

One year was added to the sentence for the weapons and ammunition found during the search of his home, with the judge noting that “deterrent sentences are required when firearms crime is associated with drug trafficking activity.”

The defendant requested discounts for remorse, prior convictions and guilty pleas. The judge rejected a discount for remorse.

“You tried to downplay your role, stating that you did not know how serious the crime was and saying that the reason for your crime was your own addiction and the financial struggles you faced, and that you were trying to give your family the best possible life. ”Judge Gault noted. “The Crown acknowledges its remorse for Mr Selwyn’s death but notes that he is not being sentenced on a charge related to that.”

Andrew Fausia suggested other mitigating factors could be the multiple concussions he suffered in rugby in the past and his anxiety about prison after being stabbed while in custody.

Judge Gault allowed reductions totaling 30%, resulting in a final sentence of three years and 10 months in prison.

Meanwhile, Logo’s drug offense resulted in a starting point of five years and six months in prison, one year longer than his co-defendant’s starting point.

When all charges are combined, he had control of more than 202 grams of methamphetamine, the judge noted. That would equate to about 2,000 individual doses, police have indicated in previous drug cases, but Judge Gault characterized Logo’s individual charges as indicative of “small amounts of street/retail dealers.”

One year was added to Logo’s conspiracy to injure charge.

“I have taken into account the victim impact statements provided by Mr Selwyn’s whānau for the previous (manslaughter) sentencing (of Alex Fausia),” Judge Gault said. “The relevant charge today is conspiracy to cause harm, but I recognize that its result was the tragic loss of Mr Selwyn’s life.

“I have read those victim impact statements and know that any sentence I impose today for the relevant crime today cannot undo the harm the family has experienced.”

An additional four months were added for committing some of the offenses while out on bail.

Sentence reductions amounting to 40% were then taken into account after defense attorney Mark Ryan pointed out Logo’s background, his relative youth (he was 24 at the time of the crime), the letter of remorse and the guilty pleas. .

One report noted that he developed mild gambling disorders and severe methamphetamine disorders after returning from Australia to New Zealand to support his mother after his father’s death. But in a conflicting report, he insisted he never used methamphetamine and denied being under the influence at the time of the crime, stating instead that he viewed the drug only as a source of income.

“Your letter sincerely apologizes to the victim’s family,” the judge said. “You acknowledge that you have no excuse for what you have done and say that you will take full responsibility and ownership of your action. This also contradicts what you told the pre-sentence report writer. There you sought to blame the victim and denied any intention to harm him.”

The final sentence imposed on Logo was four years and two months in prison, four months longer than that of his co-accused.

Throughout the nearly two-year court process that ended last week, the victim’s family and supporters showed up at each hearing wearing black T-shirts that read “Justice4Ajae.”

Their lives have not been the same since Selwyn’s death, her brother Michael Nancorrow wrote in a statement that was read aloud by Crown prosecutor Henry Steele at Alex Fausia’s sentencing in August.

She recounted “the heartbreaking screams we heard after learning that our brother was killed for something so minuscule” and the constant worry for her brother’s children.

Adrian "ahae" Selwyn didn't even see the attack coming, her sister told the court.
Adrian “Ajae” Selwyn didn’t even see the attack coming, his sister told the court.

“He didn’t even see you coming,” Selwyn’s sister said at the same hearing, adding that her brother “never stood a chance” against three men. “Ajae’s life was taken by a brutal and cowardly act.

“Eight nights and eight days my brother’s lifeless body lay in his bed, rotting, increasingly unrecognizable… The disturbing thing is that my brother’s children never managed to see him in his coffin, hug him, kiss him and say goodbye forever . last time.”

Judge Michele Wilkinson-Smith, who oversaw the previous sentencing, acknowledged that the three men should be ashamed of how they had handled the situation.

“The damage you caused is not repairable,” he told Alex Fausia. “You have taken a life. He didn’t mean to kill, which is why the charge is manslaughter, but he committed an incredibly violent and dangerous act and when his victim was unconscious and probably dying, he didn’t call emergency services. They didn’t even leave it where it fell so that someone else could see it and call emergency services.

“You and your associates hid him away from any possibility of help.”

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.

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