Wellington - A Hungarian tourist who killed a 69-year-old gay man with a banjo after he made homosexual advances was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury in Auckland on Thursday. Ferdinand Ambach, 32, a dive master, was found not guilty on the more serious charge of murdering Ronald James Brown, 69, in December 2007 by beating him with a banjo and ramming the handle down his throat. He was remanded in custody for sentencing on August 28.
A jury in the Auckland High Court took a total of about 12 hours over three days to reach their verdict after hearing evidence that a violent argument erupted when Brown took Ambach back to his flat, wrongly assuming that he was gay, after they had met in a bar in December 2007.
Police called by a neighbour arrived to find Brown badly injured and Ambach screaming in Hungarian and throwing furniture through an upstairs window, the court was told. Brown died in hospital three days later.
Interviewed by police, Ambach said he could remember only parts of what happened that night.
