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Home / New Zealand

A Moment In Crime: Murder at Mangere Mountain, the Claire Hills cold case

Anna Leask
By Anna Leask
Senior Journalist - crime and justice·NZ Herald·
9 Jul, 2021 01:34 AM4 mins to read

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Claire Hills was on her way to work when she was murdered. Photo / Supplied

Claire Hills was on her way to work when she was murdered. Photo / Supplied

In 1998 Auckland woman Claire Hills didn't make it to work.

The 30-year-old was murdered, burned alive in her own car.

Her killer left clues - DNA even - but after 23 years police are still no closer to finding him.

In this episode Herald senior reporter Anna Leask looks back at the enduring cold case and finds out what it will take to solve the 23-year mystery.

For all episodes of A Moment in Crime, see below or subscribe through iHeart Radio and your usual podcast apps.

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And if you have information on what happened to Claire Hills that terrible day in 1998, contact the police on 0800 OP HILLS or to pass on information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A Moment In Crime is written, hosted and produced by Leask with expertise from the NZME sound and vision team.

Leask has been covering crime and justice for NZME since early 2006 and has reported on most of the major incidents and events across New Zealand over that time.

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Her interest in crime has never waned and her storytelling often delves much deeper than just the initial offence.

"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.

"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."

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

A Moment In Crime: The Kahui twins - who killed Chris and Cru?

31 Aug 07:00 AM
World

Carolina cold case re-opened after 30 years

17 Aug 11:20 PM

In our first episode, we looked back at the Christchurch terror attack - what unfolded on March 15 and how it changed New Zealand.

Since then Leask has covered the Grace Millane murder, the Scott Watson case, the Christchurch house of horrors, the Aramoana massacre, the Ashburton Winz shootings, the mysterious death of Fielding farmer Scott Guy and arguably the most famous crime in New Zealand - the Crewe murders.

In 2017, Leask wrote and hosted Chasing Ghosts - a six-part podcast series on the Amber-Lee Cruickshank case.

The South Island toddler disappeared almost 27 years ago from a small town on the shore of Lake Wakatipu.

READ MORE AND LISTEN TO CHASING GHOSTS HERE

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.

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It was the Herald's first true-crime podcast.

To subscribe to A Moment In Crime visit iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

NZME has a raft of other podcasts produced by journalists and broadcasters from the Herald, Newstalk ZB, ZM, The Hits and others - all available on iHeart radio.

We want to hear from you

If there is a case you'd like us to consider covering email anna.leask@nzme.co.nz

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