The mental health patient who murdered Christchurch pensioner Frances “Faye” Phelps at her hillside home has been jailed for life and ordered to spend at least 10 years behind bars.
And details of the elderly killer’s crimes – and mental health history – can now be published.
Phelps, 83, was found dead at her home in Mt Pleasant on October 7, 2024.
Her gardener Elliott Alfred James Cameron was arrested and charged with murder the next day.
The 76-year-old has been in mental health care for most of his life and over the years has made repeated threats to kill people.
At his sentencing before Justice Rachel Dunningham today, Cameron apologised for his offending – making a bizarre reference to his victim’s daughter Karen Phelps, claiming she had described his actions as “out of character”.
Karen Phelps slammed the killer for doing so – saying he was using her to “garner sympathy” in court.
“Elliott quoting me in court and naming me – even though I never said that at all – was a kick in the teeth,” she told the Herald.
"He basically used me as part of his defence in a way to garner sympathy and re-victimised me in the process. I think he’s a lot more intelligent and manipulative than I had previously thought."
Phelps is convinced Cameron planned to kill her mother, despite his denying any premeditation.
“He knew her routine, he knew there was a weapon there and he struck at just the right time when she was unaware and had turned to go back into the house,“ she said.
“It’s clearly not out of character if he’s made multiple threats in the intervening years about doing it.
“This all seems like obvious manipulation to me and that’s the skill of someone who is very intelligent and knows, on some level at least, what he’s doing.”
The specifics of the murder have not been detailed in court until today.
Cameron was sentenced this morning by Justice Rachel Dunningham.
The court heard that Cameron had been a special patient at Hillmorton Hospital for some time. That status ended “many years ago”, but Cameron remained living at the hospital.
“As at 2024 there were no court orders or other legal requirements compelling him to remain nor was he under treatment,” the summary of facts stated.
“Accordingly, there was no lawful impediment to the defendant leaving and living elsewhere. The defendant had ... been within the system for some 57 years.
“Since 2016, the defendant has been a voluntary patient, chosen not to self-discharge, and basically refused to leave Hillmorton Hospital despite efforts made to move him.”
“Since 2016, the defendant has been a voluntary patient, chosen not to self-discharge, and basically refused to leave Hillmorton Hospital despite efforts made to move him.”
Further specifics of Cameron’s mental health history remain suppressed for now.
“Because of the voluntary status, the defendant was free to come and go from Hillmorton Hospital as he pleased, within reason. He was physically active and undertook work, leaving the hospital most days using public transport and riding his bicycle,” the summary said.
“There had been discussing about the defendant moving, however over the last decade the defendant has made threats to kill if required to leave the hospital setting.
“In December 2022, the defendant told nursing staff that he would be ‘hard to ignore if he was chopping up bodies’ and continued threats over the next couple of months to kill people if discharged from the hospital.
“In July 2024 the defendant threatened ‘disastrous measures’ if he was discharged.”
In late September 2024, Cameron was working at Phelps’ neighbour’s property. He called in to her house and asked if she would like any gardening done.
Over the next week, Phelps and Cameron exchanged emails and it was arranged he would come and and work on her property on the Friday.
At the same time, hospital staff were assisting Cameron to “reduce” some of his belongings that he had accumulated at the facility.
Staff noted he had “some anxiety regarding his immediate future”.
On Friday, October 4, 2024, Cameron stuck to his normal routine; eating breakfast at the hospital before leaving at about 8.50am.
He got a bus to Phelps’ home, arriving just after 10am.
Phelps met him at the garage door. Cameron then retrieved a small axe he had previously used in Phelps’ garden and struck her in the head with it multiple times.
The blows caused “catastrophic and fatal” injuries.
Cameron left Phelps where she lay and bussed back to the hospital.
At about 1.30pm, a hospital staffer suggested Cameron could remove a box of bike parts from his room.
In response, he threatened to “kick her head in”.
At 4pm, Cameron told two separate nurses that between 10am and 10.30am he had assaulted a woman with an axe, and asked them to call the police.
The nurses called police at 4.36pm.
“But, due to a number of factors, this was not taken further,” the summary stated.
Just before 5pm on Monday, October 7, Phelps was found dead by her lawnmowing contractor.
She was lying on the steps near the open garage door. He called 111.
Police arrived soon after and located the axe about 3m away from Phelps.
“The victim received significant wounds to her head caused by multiple blows from the small axe. The victim would have died very soon after the inflicted wounds – if not immediately,” said the summary.
When interviewed by police, Cameron said Phelps was already injured when he arrived.
He claimed he left the property as he “did not want to be blamed” for the injuries.
Two mental health experts deemed Cameron fit to enter a plea and stand trial – but noted his status possibly made him “less culpable” than other offenders in similar circumstances.
Cameron addressed the judge at the beginning of the hearing.
“I’m extremely sorry that I’ve done – what I did,” he said.
“I didn’t intend doing that and I just don’t know what happened and I’m very very sorry.
“Karen Phelps, the daughter of Faye, said what I did was very out of character and that is true, I think.”
Karen Phelps provided a victim impact statement to the court for sentencing.
It was not read aloud in court but she provided the Herald with a copy.
“The effect on our family of losing Faye in such a violent and sudden way has been indescribably traumatic,” she said.
“She was a kind and generous soul who was loved and treasured by all who met her so it seems unfathomable that she would suffer such an awful death.
“It still feels surreal and is hard to get my head around what’s happened. You read about things like this in the newspaper but you never think it will happen to your family.”
“I was really close to my mum. She wasn’t just my mother; she was also my friend. It’s incredibly painful that I will never see her again.
“A loved one dying as a result of a homicide is not a thing of course that most people naturally have to deal with in their lives. So nobody has the skills to cope with something like this.
“Counselling has been helpful but there are a lot of emotions and it will take a long time to process what’s happened.
“I’m haunted by visions of the way she died, her lying alone for days before she was discovered and all the aftermath I have had to deal with.”
Karen Phelps said that at times she had trouble eating and functioning on even a basic level.
“I’ve had to take time off work and it’s made me hesitant to socialise, as wherever I go somebody will say something about what’s happened to Mum,” she said.
“My life will never be the same again. Because it’s been such a public death it’s hard to escape from. Like my mum, I’m a reserved person so I feel my identity has been forever altered as well as an aspect of my privacy taken away.”
Karen Phelps said the family had trusted Cameron and known him for more than a decade.
She was surprised – given his mental health status – that he was “able to go out in an unmonitored way in the community”.
“It is particularly astounding he was allowed to do gardening for an elderly woman widower,” she said.
“Mum’s death is a tragedy for us but also for Elliot and his family.”
“I have heard that Elliot himself wanted higher levels of care than he received and had made it known that he was afraid if he didn’t get those levels of care he might [offend].
“The greatest tragedy is that I believe Mum’s death was preventable if Elliot had received the care he wanted and needed.
“I do not believe it’s safe for him to ever be out in the community again. Elliot needs to be held in a secure facility for the rest of his life where he gets the help and support he wanted all along to keep both himself and the public safe.
“Sadly, he didn’t receive the help he needed and the result is what happened to my mum. If he was ever in a less secure setting or out in the public again I would not feel safe and a neighbour of Mum’s has also mentioned the same fears to me.”
Karen Phelps implored Justice Dunningham to protect the community from Cameron.
“No matter what his age, he could be a threat. It would certainly make me feel anxious if he was ever out in the public again as it would others in the community,” she said.
“Mum was a fit 83-year-old and still had a lot of life to live.
“She was an introvert, happy to mainly be at home, which is why it is ironic that her death has been so public. Mum would have hated all the attention.
“I’d like her to be remembered as a giving, kind-hearted, compassionate Christian woman who always thought of others before herself.
“She had a strong inner character. I learned a lot from her and really admired her as did so many others. I will miss her forever but I am eternally grateful that she was my mum.”
Crown solicitor Barnaby Hawes said despite Cameron’s mental health issues a life sentence was the only just outcome.
He said aggravating features of the offending included Phelps’ vulnerability, age and the fact she lived alone.
“Mr Cameron was a man known to her. There’s no previous history between them, and this attack would have been entirely, completely unspeakable,” he said.
“Secondly, the attack took place at her home, a place that she was entitled to feel safe.”
Hawes said there was also an element of premeditation.
“Perhaps not premeditation in the traditional sense but a degree of perhaps contemplation that something was going to happen although there was no previous expression of hostility towards Mrs Phelps,” he said.
He acknowledged the relatively early guilty plea and had considered the reports from health assessors.
“Those reports concluded that Mr Cameron was not insane or was he unfit to stand trial - and therefore the both health assessors by a reasonably clear margin considered that Mr Cameron is criminally culpable for his conduct, but they do know that there were aspects of his mental makeup which may reduce his culpability in some sense.
“But the Crown’s submission is that it is not a predominant feature of sentencing,”
Hawes also acknowledged that Cameron was “institutionalised”, having spent “the majority of his life as an inpatient”.
“The sentence to be imposed is the most serious sentence that can be imposed by a court, which is that of life imprisonment. So ultimately the Crown submits that Mr Cameron should be sentenced to imprisonment for life and an appropriate minimum period of imprisonment would be one of 12 to 13 years with a reduction of around two years to reflect guilty plea and personal circumstances.”
Cameron’s lawyer Craig Ruane said the killer “cannot remember some of” the murder. However, he did not contest the summary of facts.
“Probably the most important aspect is that of premeditation and in my submission, although the defendant has a history of acting out at Hillmorton - there’s no suggestion that he has put those threats or claims into effect in the past,” he said.
“I submit that this seems to have been more in the nature of some sort of spontaneous act, rather than something carefully planned or premeditated.”
“The interests of the community would be served by simply sentencing him to life imprisonment with a minimum period of 10 years.”
Justice Dunningham acknowledged Phelps’ family and friends who were in court today.
“Mrs Phelps was a much-loved mother, described as kind and generous and was loved and treasured by all who met her,” she said.
“It would come as no surprise that dealing with a beloved mother’s death in such traumatic circumstances has been an emotional and difficult experience, and it’s been exacerbated by the fact that her body was not found until some time after her death.
“It has clearly been unimaginably painful for the family, not just to lose such a loved mother, but to lose her in the circumstances that I’ve just described.”
She said a life sentence was inevitable and the only decision for her was around the minimum term Cameron had to serve before he was eligible for parole.
“I must consider what period is necessary to hold you accountable for the harm done to the victim in the community by your offending to denounce the conduct in which you were involved, to deter you and others from committing the same or similar offence, and to protect the community from you,” she said.
“I’ve had the benefit of two thorough reports prepared under the Criminal Procedure Mentally Impaired Persons Act 2003. Those reports were prepared primarily to assess whether you had a defence of insanity and whether you were fit to stand trial.
“They were unanimous in saying that you were fit to stand trial on the charge of murder and they did not consider you had a defence of insanity available. However, they also covered your background, which I consider relevant to sentencing.”
The details of Cameron’s background cannot yet be reported.
“The reports make it clear you do not suffer from a major mental illness. There’s no evidence of enduring psychosis with functional decline or mood disorder,” she said.
“You do, however, meet the criteria for a personality change due to another medical condition, apathetic type, which has also been described as an organic personality disorder in your earlier clinical notes.
“The reports note there is no medical treatment for this condition, as medication is unlikely to change your rigid thinking and lack of empathy. On the other hand, you have a high level of intellectual functioning with various IQ testing findings that you have generally above average intelligence.”
The judge explained that Cameron’s case was complicated.
“For several decades there has been a clinical view that you did not require hospitalistion and could live in the community, but attempts to transition you to the community have been opposed by you, the judge said.
“Indeed, during your time as a voluntary patient, you have been recorded as making threats to harm or kill people, and these have generally arisen in the context of discussions about your potential discharge from mental health services. However, I accept as your lawyer says that you’ve not previously carried out these threats.”
She said that there was “some inconsistency” in his recollection of the murder.
“However, the fact that you told staff on the day that you had harmed a female that morning, and you understood that police would be involved, and you may be in prison, suggests otherwise. You also provided a different account to police, being that you found the injured victim but did not call for services to help, as you did not wish to be blamed for the injuries the victim had suffered,” she said.
“However, I also note that you actively tried to plead guilty to the charge of murder very promptly, including by writing to the court directly on several occasions, and this suggests a willingness to acknowledge the facts of the offending.
“That said, as the pre-sentence report notes, you’ve not shown any notable level of remorse to your actions, and you explain that you are pleading guilty as you believe sentenced prisoners got better treatment.”
Justice Dunningham acknowledged what Cameron told her in court but said it struck her as “too little, too late”
“So in all this, I find nothing that would make a sentence of life imprisonment manifestly unjust. You knowingly killed a vulnerable woman without any provocation from her, and you showed no real remorse at having done so,” she told the killer.
“Any sympathy for the contribution your (mental health situation) has had to your offending is offset by the clear danger you pose to the community and which warrants a life sentence to achieve the purpose of community protection.
“Your victim was elderly, she lived alone, and she did nothing to provoke the attack. That said, I acknowledge that you, too, are elderly, but that does not mean she was not vulnerable given the trust she placed in you and the surprise nature of the attack.
“It’s also an aggravating feature that the attack took place in the victim’s own home where she’s entitled to feel safe, although I accept this was not a case of you being unlawfully present at the property.”
The judge did not consider there was “any real premeditation”.
“You made threats to harm or threats to harm or kill people before without carrying them out, and here you took the opportunity to use a weapon which was found at the scene, which suggests this was a more spontaneous action rather than something you planned in advance, perhaps as, the Crown says today it was a crime that was contemplated rather than planned,” she explained.
“In terms of the harm caused, I accept this was great, although that is almost always the case when a family loses a loved member by homicide.
“Your identified mental impairment also needs to be factored in. There is a clear causal nexus between it and you’re offending.
“But ... there is also a clear need for community protection.”
Justice Dunningham sentenced Cameron to life in prison and ordered him to serve a minimum of 10 years.
After his arrest, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora’s South Island deputy executive, Martin Keogh, issued a statement.
“I can confirm that a mental health patient was arrested at the Hillmorton campus ... and has appeared in court charged with murder,” he said.
“Our sincere condolences are with the family of the person who died.
“As the matter is currently before the courts, I am limited in what further comment I can make.
“However, I can assure the public that we are taking this incident extremely seriously and a full review will be undertaken.”
Health NZ has, to date, refused to provide any further detail about Cameron.
Karen Phelps previously spoke to the Herald about the “devastating” impact Cameron’s violent actions had on her family.
She said her mother’s most special quality was her kindness and compassion for other people.
“She was always thinking about others and wanting to help them in any way she could. She donated a great deal of money to charity, for example – I didn’t realise how much until I stumbled upon all the receipts after she passed away.
“She visited people in prison to share her faith, supported people at her church and was always willing to lend an ear to someone who needed advice.
“She was a dedicated Christian, so I’d say Jesus was her main ‘hobby’, especially as she got older. She went to church every Sunday, a church craft group every week and spent time every morning and evening praying and reading her Bible. She loved Radio Rhema and it would be going in every room in the house.”
Phelps was so committed to her faith that she was described as “a prayer warrior” by those in her church community.
She was born in 1941 in Christchurch and raised in Avonside. She married Bill Phelps in 1965.
When she was younger, she was a keen singer and actress, part of the Sumner Theatre Group and performed in shows at the Theatre Royal.
She was a “homebody” who loved to “potter” around her home and garden.
She loved to read and prioritised her health. Her daughter said that, at 83, she was fit and “really good about eating healthily and exercising”.
“She was always doing exercises for specific things like balance etc to remain fit and healthy. She would go for walks around the hill each day as part of her general fitness regime.
“I would say she was really disciplined. She was also incredibly neat and tidy – I often wondered what her house cleaner actually did.
“She was an introvert, happy to mainly be at home, which is why it is ironic that her death has been so public. Mum would have hated all the attention.
“Mum definitely had a quiet grace and elegance about her. She also had a real inner strength.”
She always had time for friends and family.
She regularly met a group of women with whom she worked at Ballantynes in her younger years, and a group of widows of men who used to work at New Zealand Railways, where her late husband worked.
Bill Phelps died on October 11, 2022, four days before his 82nd birthday.
“They were good parents – fair, kind, good providers,” Karen Phelps remembered.
“We had a lot of pets – guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs, chickens, a parrot called Oscar, who is still alive. I remember someone coming up to our house one day and commenting it was like The Good Life [the 70s TV show], where people lived in a self-sustained way. We had a big glasshouse and garden where Dad grew all our food.
“Mum was always a supporter of my hobbies growing up. I remember she would drive me to a different activity every night of the week. When I did ballet, she made my tutu and did a beautiful job and would drive me to lessons and sit in the car waiting for me for a couple of hours.
“In her younger years, she was a good knitter and made us leg-warmers and fingerless gloves when they were in fashion. She also made beautiful novelty cakes for our birthdays as children.”
Karen Phelps had memories of many “great Kiwi camping holidays” in the family caravan.
“Mum was also a savvy businesswoman and always had some sort of job – receptionist for New Brighton Medical Centre, working in an antiques store and sold products around the hill, such as Rawleighs.
“In fact, she passed her Rawleighs round onto me when I was at university and that’s how I partly earned my way through uni. It taught me business skills that have set me up for life.
“I also remember she taught us how to manage money. If we wanted to buy a toy, for example, as children she would buy it then have a little book where she’d note down our payments and we’d have to pay it off each week from our pocket money before we could have it. It was a great skill to learn.”
She said the most important lesson her mother taught her was “acceptance, forgiveness and love”.
“I know she would have accepted what happened to her and I know she would have forgiven [Cameron].”
Karen Phelps wanted people to remember her mother for the person she was - not as a victim.
“As a kind and generous soul, a private woman who didn’t realise how respected she was by so many.”
Phelps is survived by Karen and her brother Grant. Her first child, Angela, was stillborn after a full-term pregnancy.
Karen Phelps said that, at the time, stillborn babies did not have a funeral or a grave and her mother “never even had the opportunity to see or hold Angela”.
“In more recent years [she] had found the site of Angela’s remains and one of her last wishes was for her ... to be remembered in a family burial plot.”
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz.
At least one house was hit, emergency crews seen going door-to-door.