The Star: October 31, 2019

The Star Thursday October 31 2019
12
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Cases with no body or weapon
Murder prosecutions without a body or weapon are rare but not unheard of in New Zealand. Police recently arrested and charged David
Benbow for the murder of Christchurch carpenter Michael McGrath, two years and four months after he disappeared. Mr McGrath’s body
has not been found and police have not revealed whether a murder weapon was uncovered. Sophie Cornish looks back at some of the
biggest cases which have this in common
37th person
hanged in NZ
MORE THAN 142 years ago,
the first ever murder conviction
without a body or weapon in New
Zealand’s history took place.
William Henry Woodgate,
50, was the 37th person in New
Zealand to be hanged and the
last ever to be hanged in the
Marlborough Sounds.
He was believed to have
been the father of the child he
murdered and the mother was his
niece.
Susan Woodgate was the
daughter of Woodgate’s brother,
Robert.
Woodgate was found guilty
during a trial at the Supreme
Court of New Zealand in
December 1876 after the jury
deliberated for only 55 minutes.
Although the defence argued
there was no evidence of a murder
being committed, two witnesses
testified they had seen Susan
heavily pregnant.
Susan also testified Woodgate
had threatened to smother the
newborn at birth and later told her
he had done so.
Susan’s sister, Elizabeth, testified
she had heard the cry of a baby.
Woodgate was well regarded in
the community and public outcry
over his sentence led to a petition
being sent to the governor, which
was dismissed.
The following month, on
January 25, 1877, Woodgate was
hanged in Picton.
A BODY HAS never been found
in the case of Deane Fuller-
Sandys, 21, who disappeared in
August 1989.
Ten years later, Stephen Stone
and Gail Maney were found
guilty of his murder, which was
drug-related.
Mr Fuller-Sandys had planned
to go fishing and authorities
thought he had been swept
out to sea after his car was
discovered at Whatipu Beach in
West Auckland.
However, five days after he
disappeared, Leah Romany
Stephens, a 20-year-old sex
worker also disappeared.
Her skeletal remains weren’t
discovered until three years later
in a nearby forest.
It was not until police received
a tip-off years later that the two
deaths, known as the Larnoch
Rd murders, were linked and
Mr Fuller-Sandys disappearance
was upgraded to a murder
inquiry.
A two-year investigation
found another sex worker, Gail
Maney, had contracted Black
Power gang member, Stephen
David
Benbow
Michael
McGrath
George Cecil Horry was
convicted of the murder of his
wife Mary Eileen Jones (right) in
1951.
The marriage began in
Auckland in 1942 and it was
believed Horry killed Ms
Jones, a wealthy homeowner
in Ponsonby, days after the
wedding.
Horry tricked Ms Jones into
believing he was a British spy
IN DECEMBER 1990, David
Tamihere was convicted of the
murder of a Swedish couple in
a Coromandel forest without
either of the bodies being found.
Heidi Paakkonen, 21, and her
fiance Sven Hoglin, 23, went
missing while tramping in 1989.
The largest ever land-based
search in New Zealand was
undertaken in an attempt to
find the couple.
Tamihere was convicted
following testimonies from
three prison inmates, which
resulted in a sentence of life
imprisonment.
Mr Hoglin’s body was
discovered in 1991. The
discovery revealed evidence
that contradicted the police
case against Tamihere, who
maintained his innocence and
filed a series of unsuccessful
appeals. He was released on
parole in 2010 after serving
George Cecil Horry: An ‘incorrigible rogue’ and career criminal
named George Turner, who was
working for Britain in World
War 2.
Fisherman who mysteriously disappeared
Stone, to kill Mr Fuller-Sandys
after a drug-related dispute.
It was alleged the murders
took place at Maney’s home in
Larnoch Rd, Henderson, and
that Ms Stephens had witnessed
Mr Fuller-Sandys murder.
It was believed a man had
burgled Maney’s home. A
neighbour described a man with
a similar description to Fuller-
Infamous Tamihere double murder case
VANISHED: A conviction
for the murder of Deane
Fuller-Sandys came 10
years after he disappeared.
Sandys who often frequented the
house and sold Maney drugs.
Maney concluded it was him.
Both Stone and Maney were
given life sentences.
Stone was also convicted
of the rape and murder of
Ms Stephens and two other
people were convicted of being
accessories and helping to
dispose of Mr Fuller-Sandys’
body.
The case was unusual because
of the decade-long gap between
the crime and conviction and
the lack of forensic evidence and
the legal immunity which was
granted to key witnesses.
The case was contentious
because Maney continued to
state her innocence and that she
never met Mr Fuller-Sandys.
Two key witnesses who
testified have since revoked their
original trial testimonies.
TRAGIC: David Tamihere
was convicted of
the murder of Heidi
Paakkonen and Sven
Hoglin while the Swedish
couple were tramping in a
Coromandel forest.
20 years. In 2017, one of the
people who testified against
Tamihere was found guilty of
perjury. Meanwhile, another
In reality, he was a career
criminal who a judge once
called an “incorrigible rogue”
and spent most of the previous
20 years behind bars in New
Zealand and Australia.
A week after the wedding, he
told Ms Jones’ parents she had
been lost at sea when their ship
was torpedoed in the Atlantic
Ocean.
However, they were suspicious
THE DISAPPEARANCE of Ben
Smart and Olivia Hope in January
1998 became one of the most
high profile murder cases in New
Zealand history.
The remains of Mr Smart,
21, and Miss Hope, 17, (right)
were never recovered after they
disappeared while celebrating
in the Malborough Sounds on
New Year’s Eve.
The friends
were part of a
group of 1500
party-goers at
the Furneaux
Lodge.
As the party
wound down,
there was no
room on an already overcrowded
yacht, chartered by Miss Hope
and her sister, Amelia, so the pair
caught a water taxi, driven by Guy
Wallace, back to shore in order to
find a place to sleep.
This became the last ever
confirmed sighting of the couple.
During the water taxi trip, the
pair accepted an invitation from
a lone man to stay on his yacht,
Blade. Police believed the single
man to be Picton resident Scott
was revealed as Robert Conchie
Harris, who was convicted of
the double murder of a couple
in 1983.
and reported her disappearance
to the police.
A detective on the case
established Horry’s true identity
and convinced the Auckland
Crown solicitor the case was
strong enough to go to trial.
However, Horry was not
arrested until 1951, when the
circumstantial evidence was
deemed sufficient. He was
released from prison in 1967.
Murder in the Marlborough Sounds
Scott Watson
Watson who then killed the pair
and dumped their bodies at sea.
Mr Wallace told the NZ Herald
the man looked “a bit feral” and
was “checking out Olivia and
acting sleazy”.
Mr Wallace, being the last
person to see the pair alive,
became the centre of the
investigation. He said he and
other key witnesses were “treated
like criminals” and called liars
by police who “just had to get
someone.” He believed if Watson
wasn’t involved, he would have
been pinned with the murders.
Watson has 48 previous
criminal convictions as a teenager.
But he has always maintained his
innocence. All attempts to appeal
his conviction failed.