Russell John Tully has today been found guilty of murdering two Ashburton Work and Income workers.
A jury took less than six hours to establish that 49-year-old Tully was the masked gunman who stormed the Ashburton Winz centre on September 1, 2014 and shot dead receptionist Peggy Noble, 67, and case manager Susan Leigh Cleveland, 55.
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Here are 10 key points from the trial, that ended in the High Court at Christchurch today:
• The 49-year-old accused was not in court for most of the trial, including jury selection and arraignment.
• Identification of the masked gunman responsible for the shootings quickly emerged as key to the Crown's case.
• Winz staff described Tully as a demanding, manipulative and intimidating client trespassed for his behaviour towards them.
• The Crown said Tully labelled his possessions with distinctive 'inX' stickers. The Crown said one was on a spent shotgun cartridge found at the murder scene.
• Local man David Cooze, who witnessed Peg Noble being fatally shot at close range, challenged the fleeing gunman, causing him to leave behind a bike helmet.
• A DNA expert who analysed bike helmet sample cited "extremely strong" scientific evidence linking it to Tully.
• Tully didn't spend a whole day in the courtroom until day eight of the trial.
• The Crown says evidence that lone masked gunman is Tully is "overwhelming".
• Counsel effectively representing Tully, James Rapley, said features of the Crown case had not been satisfactorily answered and some points raised uncertainty.
• The jury of four men and seven women retired to consider their verdicts late yesterday. After being sent home for the night they returned at 3:30pm today to deliver a guilty verdict.