Crimes NZ

Canterbury plant scientist David Lloyd fell severely ill in suspicious circumstances in 1992. The ensuing investigation became known as the 'poisoned professor case'.

When Canterbury scientist David Lloyd fell ill in 1992, suspicious immediately fell on his former lover.

Dr Vicky Calder was arrested in 1994 and stood trial twice for attempted murder, or alternatively poisoning with intent.

Lady Deborah Chambers QC presented The Trial - Crown vs Calder

Dr Calder was accused of poisoning Mr Lloyd with a chemical neurotoxin known as acrylamide.

He was in a coma for months and was left blind with severe nerve damage.

The first trial ended in a hung jury, the second jury found Dr Calder not guilty.

Lady Deborah Chambers QC, who presented a documentary called The Trial - Crown vs Calder, in 1997.

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In 1989, two Swedish tourists, Sven Urban Höglin and Heidi Paakkonen, went missing in the Coromandel. Mr Höglin's body was discovered by pig hunters in 1991, but Ms Paakkonen has not been seen since.

David Tamihere spent 21 years in prison for the 1989 murders of Sven Urban Höglin and Heidi Paakkonen.

The Swedish tourists and had gone tramping in bush near Thames in April. They were reported missing in May.

David Tamihere was convicted of their murders in 1990, he was granted parole late in 2010.

Convicted double murderer Roberto Conchie Harris claimed Tamihere told him he had sexually molested Ms Paakkonen and Mr Höglin, killed them and dumped their bodies at sea.

Mr Höglin's body was found in a shallow grave in 1991, but Ms Paakkonen has never been found.

In 2017, Harris was found guilty of lying to the court and in 2020 Tamihere's conviction was referred back to the Court of Appeal.

Investigative reporter Donna Chisholm has covered the story for years with all its twists and turns.

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15-year-old Canterbury teenager, Kirsty Bentley from Ashburton went missing after taking her dog for a walk on New Year's Eve in 1998 - her body was found just over two weeks later. Stuff journalists Blair Ensor and Martin van Beynen recently completed an investigative piece on the unsolved case.

It's one of the most high-profile cold cases in New Zealand's history - the murder of Canterbury teenager, Kirsty Bentley.

The 15-year-old from Ashburton went missing after taking her dog for a walk on New Year's Eve in 1998, and her body was found in bushes near the Rakaia Gorge just over two weeks later.

The case has never been solved.

Eighteen years after her body was discovered, the coroner ruled the death of Kirsty Bentley was not accidental.

Her older brother, John, the last person to see her alive, told police she left the house late in the afternoon to take the family dog for a walk.

Two weeks later, on the day before her 16th birthday, Kirsty's partially buried body was found 60km away near the Rakaia Gorge.

Stuff journalist, Blair Ensor and Martin van Beynen wrote an indepth investigative piece on the case.

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In October 2016, a group of women gathered in West Auckland for a pamper party. It ended with the death of Carly Stewart. Defence lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg QC was involved in the case.

In October 2016, a group of women gathered in West Auckland for what was supposed to be a fun social event - a chance to do their nails, catch up with friends, and have a few drinks.

But the party took a bizarre and violent turn, when Anna Browne stabbed mother-of-two Carly Stewart to death. The case became known as the 'pamper party' stabbing.

In the High Court in Auckland, Browne was found guilty of murder in 2017 and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of 12 years.

Browne stabbed Ms Stewart once in the head with a large kitchen knife, inflicting an 11 centimetre stab wound.

She died after losing massive amounts of blood.

Defence lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg QC, represented Browne.

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It's one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in New Zealand history. In 1984, a bomb went off on the Trades Hall in Wellington killing caretaker Ernie Abbott. Former Secretary Graeme Clark remembers that day and the confusion that followed.

On the 27th of March, 1984 at the Trades Hall in Wellington, caretaker Ernie Abbott bent over to pick up a suitcase left behind earlier in the day. It contained the equivalent of three sticks of gelignite in explosive power, which were set off by an unusual switch device inside.

The 64 year-old was killed instantly.

Mr Abbott was the sole victim of the attack and despite numerous investigations, police have always struggled to identify a motive for the bombing.

They've also never laid charges for the bombing, but they believe they know who committed the crime.

In 2017, they received new information and began collecting DNA samples from suspects. Back in 1984 there were 500 persons of interest.

Detective senior sergeant Warwick McKee told RNZ's Morning Report that they were determined to resolve the investigation for Ernie Abbott and his family.

"We're pretty certain it wasn't aimed at Ernie Abbott, he was unfortunately the person that picked up the suitcase at the end of the day, being the caretaker. We believe it was targeted towards Trades Hall staff and employees."

Secretary of the Wellington Trades Council, Graeme Clark remembers that day and the confusion that followed.

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The case that brought the word "bondage" to dinner tables around the nation. Renee Chignall was a teenage dominatrix who was tried three times for the murder of Peter Plumley-Walker in January 1989.

Peter Plumley-Walker died during a bondage session at the Remuera home of Renee Chignall and Neville Walker in January, 1989.

The couple dumped his body over the Huka Falls.

Renee Chignall was a teenage dominatrix who, along with her partner Neville Walker, was tried three times for the murder of Peter Plumley-Walker.

Renee Chignall's lawyer, Stuart Grieve, discusses the case.

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Investigative journalist and presenter David Lomas began covering the Mr Asia drug ring case when he was a crime reporter at the Dominion newspaper in Wellington in 1978. He has followed the story ever since.

The Mr Asia drug ring imported large quantities of drugs into New Zealand and Australia through the 70s.

The drug ring, one of the largest New Zealand has ever seen, was led by Marty Johnstone, the original Mr Asia, and grew from marijuana imports to a massive heroin operation.

Johnstone was killed on the orders of drug lord Terry Clark, divers found his mutilated body in a flooded quarry in England.

David Lomas, investigative journalist, has followed the story since the late 70s.

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David Dougherty was convicted for the rape and abduction of an 11 year old girl in 1993. But he wasn't guilty of the crime. Donna Chisholm was the journalist at the centre of the campaign to free him and have him compensated.

In 1993, David Dougherty was convicted of abducting and raping an 11-year-old girl in Auckland.

He spent more than three years in prison before being acquitted at a retrial in 1997, following fresh DNA evidence.

Journalist Donna Chisholm supported him through his retrial and during his long fight for compensation.

Dougherty died of pancreatic cancer in 2017 and Chisholm told RNZ's Saturday Morning the trauma of the conviction fueled Mr Dougherty's alcoholism, which is linked to pancreatic cancer.

"He was damaged for the rest of his life by it, and he couldn't get through it."

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Deane Fuller-Sandys went missing on 21 August, 1989 after setting off to go fishing at the rough West Auckland beach Whatipu and for nearly a decade he was presumed drowned.

Deane Fuller-Sandys went missing on 21 August,1989 after setting off to go fishing at the rough West Auckland beach Whatipu and for nearly a decade he was presumed drowned.

In February 1997, police began investigating tips which led them to charge Auckland woman Gail Maney with ordering a "hit" on Fuller-Sandys.

Maney has always denied any role in the murder and in the 2018 RNZ-Stuff podcast Gone Fishing, she said she had never even met Fuller-Sandys.

Former police officer turned private detective Tim McKinnel believes Gail Maney is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. He talks about the campaign to uncover the evidence to have her exonerated. He believes her appeal could be bigger than Teina Pora's.

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