A man punched and stomped on his partner several times before stopping and saying aloud: “Is she dead?”.

Peter Vi, 59, then said: “Oh no, she’s not dead” before leaving Georgina Ngataki on the floor of her Hamilton flat, changing out of his shorts, and fleeing.

Vi first appeared in the Hamilton District Court in September 2021 charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

That charge was upgraded to murder after Ngataki later died of her injuries, which included a concaved skull and other trauma to her head.

He was due to go on trial for murder next week but in the High Court at Hamilton today, Vi admitted murdering Ngataki on September 22, 2021.

Court documents show Vi and Ngataki had been in a relationship for two years before her death, living in separate units within the same apartment complex on Wellington St.

Just after 2pm on the day she died, Ngataki and Vi returned to her unit, with Vi carrying a box of New Zealand Lager.

Shortly afterward, the pair got into an argument over money.

During the argument, Vi punched and stomped Ngataki on the head several times and afterward said aloud to himself: “Is she dead?”

“Oh no she’s not dead,” he said.

He then changed into track pants, while still in her unit, before heading to his own unit.

At 2.49pm, he left his unit, this time changing all of his clothing, including his jandals, and went to Ngataki’s unit, then left a minute later.

He’s then seen leaving the complex and walking down Wellington St.

When questioned by police, Vi said that during an argument Ngataki banged her head on a table five times.

When he left, she was arguing with him about the television, he said.

Justice Layne Harvey convicted Vi, who appeared via audio-visual link, and remanded him in custody for sentencing in May.