In 1992, Susan Burdett was found dead in her South Auckland home.
The 39-year-old had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a baseball bat she kept by her bed for protection.
Susan's story was awful and tragic but would become much more so when the wrong man wasconvicted of her murder and jailed for more than 20 years.
In this month's episode of Herald podcast A Moment In Crime, senior journalist Anna Leask looks into the death of Susan Burdett and the botched police investigation that led to Teina Pora being arrested and charged a year later.
Pora, a 17-year-old petty criminal, confessed to the murder after hearing about a significant reward offered by police for information that would lead to the killer being identified.
But there was no other evidence linking Pora to the scene and his confession was jumbled, vague and changed by the minute.
Two juries went on to convict Pora before an ex-detective got involved and fought for him to be freed.
It was not until after the Privy Council quashed Pora's convictions that the real killer - serial rapist Malcolm Rewa - was held to account.
Rewa had been found guilty of raping Susan years earlier but two juries could not agree on whether he was behind the murder.
Once Pora had been exonerated Rewa faced a third trial and was finally found guilty of the brutal crime.
Teina Pora at his retrial in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / TV3
His guilty verdict came just after the 30-year anniversary of Susan's death.
A Moment In Crime is written and hosted by Anna Leask, senior crime reporter for the Herald.
Leask has been covering crime and justice for the Herald for more than 16 years and has reported on most of the major incidents and events in New Zealand over that time.
"Each month I'll take you inside some of our most infamous incidents, notorious offenders and behind the scenes of high profile trials and events to show you what's really happening in your backyard," she said.
"Heroes and villains battle for justice to be done, and it seems no matter how horrifying the story, we always want to know more.
Malcolm Rewa appears in the Auckland High Court for sentencing for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett. Photo / Michael Craig
"If you want to know more about the cases that have shocked and shaped our nation - from murders and massacres to violent villains and the utterly unbelievable - join me for A Moment In Crime."
In our first episode, we looked back at the Christchurch terror attack - what unfolded on March 15 and how it changed New Zealand.
The podcast has also delved into the death of West Auckland toddler Aisling Symes, the cold case murder of Kayo Matsuzawa, the murder of Feilding farmer Scott Guy, the disappearance of Jim Donnelly at the Glenbrook steel mill, the murders of Grace Millane and the Kahui twins, the killing of Christie Marceau, and double killer Jason Somerville, infamous for the Christchurch House of Horrors.
In 2017, Leask wrote and hosted Chasing Ghosts - a six-part podcast series on the Amber-Lee Cruickshank case.
Despite exhaustive and repeated searches, there has never been any sign of the little girl.
To mark the 25th anniversary of Amber-Lee's disappearance, Leask investigated the famous cold case in a bid to generate some answers for the toddler's family.
