In 1915, the area between Featherston and the Tauherenikau River was acquired by the Ministry of Defence. The area was chosen as the site to train the New Zealand soldiers heading to Europe to serve in World War I.

Development began on the site with over 1,000 workmen constructing what would become NZ’s largest military training camp; Featherston Military Camp.

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PALMERSTON NORTH. MANAWATU. Four months into his sentence, in August of 2002, Mark Lundy took his case to the Court of Appeal based on the belief that he was convicted on “bad science”. 

Upon upholding the conviction, the Court added an additional three years to Mark’s non-parole period; bringing the total non-parole term to 20 years. The reason for the increase was due to the Court of Appeal believing the original trial judge was too lenient and didn’t fully take into account the horrific circumstances of Amber Lundy’s murder, “She must have died with the awful injuries to her mother as her last living memory ... we have to say that Mr Lundy's murder of his daughter in these circumstances, coming on top of the murder of his wife, requires denunciation and demonstration of society's abhorrence at a very high level".

While Mark continued to maintain his innocence. The legal avenues to express that innocence were running out.

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PALMERSTON NORTH. MANAWATU. 30th of August 2000. 11.59am. Mark Lundy took a call from a client who wanted to place an order; Mark emotionally communicated through tears that he couldn’t right now as he was on his way home because “something happened to his wife and child”.

Mark arrived home to ‘Palmy’ about an hour and 16 minutes later at 1.15pm, police stopped Mark Lundy at the cordon about a block from 30 Karamea Crescent -- they had something to tell him. Police broke the news that both his wife Christine and daughter Amber were found dead that morning. Furthermore, all signs pointed to murder. 

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PALMERSTON NORTH. MANAWATU. 30th of August 2000. 9.30am. Christine’s brother James Weggery arrived at 30 Karamea Crescent in the suburb of Kelvin Grove in Palmerston North. James knew Christine’s routine well, he knew she would be home after taking her 7-year-old daughter Amber to school. Although, James had been having difficulty getting Christine on the phone; he decided to just head over to her house. Christine had been working on the accounting for James’ trucking business and his taxes were due at the end of the month; today. 

James Weggery approached the Lundy residence. He knocked on the front door. No answer. James already knew Christine’s husband Mark would not be home as he was in Wellington on business but Christine was always home at this time. Furthermore, the curtains were still pulled and her car occupied the car port. James wandered the property looking for signs of life. Something’s wrong, something’s off; James thought. 

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REPOROA. WAIKATO. 30th of November 1998. Highschool sweethearts and husband and wife, Henk and Beverly Bouma are alone in their farmhouse property located on Plateau Road in Reporoa, a small rural community 40km outside of Rotorua. The couple's three children were not home, their son 22-year-old Russell was working on another farm; their two daughters, 17-year-old Sandra and 15-year-old Cherie were away for school in Hamilton.

Henk and Beverly Bouma are awoken to four men wearing ski masks and gloves, one pointing a .22 rifle at them.

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On the 17th of December 1642. Abel and his crew saw land in the far distance; it was Te Tai Poutini -- the west coast of the South Island of NZ. As the Dutch mariner approached the unknown land, he saw a succession of fires burning upon the coastline. 

The days that followed saw the first meeting of European and Maori people. It was not a peaceful encounter.

DUNEDIN. OTAGO. The day after stabbing 22 year old Sophie Elliott to death, the 10th of January 2008, Clayton Weatherston appeared in court in Dunedin -- he pled not guilty to the charge of murder. This began long and lengthy court proceedings.

Visit www.truecrimenz.com for additional information on this case. Including a transcript of this episode, with supporting pictures, sources, and credits.

If you are a victim of family violence or in a relationship that makes you fearful about your own or anyone else's safety, seek help as soon as possible. We have linked some resources in the show notes. You have the right to be safe.

• Women’s Refuge crisis | 0800 733 843 - 24 hours
• Family violence information line | 0800 456 450
• Shine National Helpline | 0508 744 633 - 9am to 11pm
• Shakti - for migrant and refugee women | 0800 742 584 - 24 hours
• National network of stopping violence | 03 391 0048
• Elder Abuse Helpline | 0800 32 668 65 - 24 hours
• Gandhi Nivas - supporting men to be free from violence | 0800 426 344
• Hey Bro helpline - supporting men to be free from violence | 0800 HeyBro (439 276)
• Hohou te rongo kahukura - outing violence - building rainbow communities free from violence
• You, me, us - promoting healthy queer, trans and takatäpui relationships
• Sensitive Claims ACC | 0800 735 566

EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on new equipment and we did not get an ideal recording. We learnt a lot of lessons though. We hope the quality isn't too distracting from the information for all you audiophiles out there. Much love, TCNZ.

DUNEDIN. OTAGO. “I then heard the door being unlocked so I opened it and stepped into a small bedroom. In front of me, to my left, was the body of a young Caucasian female on the floor. She was covered in blood around her neck and upper torso. A male was standing with his hands by his sides at the end of the bed next to the body. I said to this person, ‘What have you done?’ To which he replied, ‘I killed her.’

Visit www.truecrimenz.com for additional information on this case. Including a transcript of this episode, with supporting pictures, sources, and credits.

If any of this is sounding familiar, or you are a victim of domestic abuse -- please know that help is available:

• Women’s Refuge crisis | 0800 733 843 - 24 hours
• Family violence information line | 0800 456 450
• Shine National Helpline | 0508 744 633 - 9am to 11pm
• Shakti – for women from migrant and refugee communities | 0800 742 584 - 24 hours
• National network of stopping violence | 03 391 0048
• Elder Abuse Helpline | 0800 32 668 65 - 24 hours
• Gandhi Nivas | 0800 426 344

AUCKLAND CITY. AUCKLAND. 19th of October 1996. 9.40am. Sister Janet Swindle, a nun, was walking her dog along Karangahape Road. Sister Swindle and her canine companion entered Pigeon Park, an area of the Symonds Street Cemetery. Among the many corpses laid peacefully to rest, to her horror, Sister Swindle discovered one unpeaceful and unburied; the mutilated corpse of Natacha Hogan.

Visit www.truecrimenz.com for additional information on this case. Including a transcript of this episode, with supporting pictures, sources, and credits.

Tēnā koutou friends,

Jessica here, with a quick update on some new things happening around our way. With the completion of the Rainbow Warrior story, that was our 12th case and 21st episode. Which was kind of like a season for us.

We have a couple of announcements to make regarding the future of True Crime NZ. Please follow our social media pages to keep updated about any updates.

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