Selwyn Times: February 01, 2023

Wednesday February 1 2023 Selwyn Times
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NEWS 13
Farm worker murder: Chef appeals
• By Kurt Bayer
A CHEF FOUND guilty of
murdering his cousin’s husband
while he slept is appealing his
conviction.
Tony Grant Waldron, 29, was
found dead at his Gardiners Rd,
Rakaia, home, on September 18,
2019, after failing to show up for
5.30am milking.
Waldron’s wife Alana Jane
Bamber, 35, and her cousin,
Joshua Morris-Bamber, 28, were
found guilty of murder by a jury
in October last year.
Now, Morris-Bamber is appealing
against his conviction
and sentence.
An appeal notice has been filed
with the Court of Appeal. No
hearing dates have yet been set.
At the trial at the High Court
in Christchurch last year, the
Crown described the story leading
up to the murder as complex.
Bamber was furious with her
estranged husband Waldron,
claiming he had been unfaithful
with one of her bridesmaids and
alleging he had “beat the s***”
out of her days before the killing.
On September 17, hotel chef
Morris-Bamber went drinking
after work and then visited
Bamber at the Gloucester St,
Christchurch, flat she was staying
at.
They chatted, the Crown said
APPEAL: Joshua Dylan Morris-Bamber is appealing his conviction and sentence for the murder of Tony Waldron (top
right). Alana Jane Bamber (right) was also convicted of the murder.
PHOTOS: NZ HERALD
during the trial, for about 15
minutes.
Then, about 11pm, Morris-
Bamber sent a Facebook message
to Bamber, which was allegedly
seen by a witness, and said:
“What is Tony’s address? I need
to get some anger out”.
The essential piece of evidence
– that Morris-Bamber denies
– was not able to be retrieved
because both offenders deleted
content from their phones.
Morris-Bamber’s brother Isak
Morris-Bamber also set off in the
night to stop him from hurting
Waldron, but after his partner
begged him to not get involved,
Isak returned home.
Bamber also told Isak to leave
his brother to it, adding “better
one life than two”.
Morris-Bamber drove for
about 45 minutes south on
SH1 to Waldron’s farm, with
cellphone data and CCTV from
NZTA cameras plotting his
movements.
His car was captured passing a
golf course going in the direction
of Gardiners Rd at 12.56am.
The same car is seen passing
the same golf course again, heading
back to Rakaia, at 1.04am.
With driving time, the Crown
said Morris-Bamber had “at
least four minutes” at Waldron’s
house, “ample time” to go inside
and fatally assault him while he
was sleeping.
A post-mortem examination
suggests Waldron was struck
by a solid weapon at least three
times on the side of his head, ear
and neck.
Waldron suffered a fractured
skull – a 4cm x 2cm fragment of
bone was dislodged - along with
multiple cracks and a broken jaw.
Morris-Bamber left at speed,
stopping briefly to hide “forensically
important items” like the
murder weapon and bloodied
clothing that he would later move
again. They were never found.
Justice Nation sentenced
Morris-Bamber to life imprisonment
with a minimum period of
imprisonment of 16 years.
He sentenced Bamber to life
imprisonment with a minimum
period of imprisonment of 13
years.
–NZ Herald
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