Convicted double murderer's threat; 'Everyone in that house is dead'

An undated photo of convicted murderer Leith Rex Ray. Photo / Supplied

Convicted double murderer Leith Rex Ray threatened to "kill everyone" in a woman's house after accusing her of spreading a vicious rumour online.

Ray, along with Gresham Marsh, gunned down elderly Waikato couple John and Josephine Harrisson in their Te Akau home near Ngaruawahia 27 years ago.

Ray was first released in February 2016 but recalled just weeks later after admitting breaching his conditions after testing positive for methamphetamine use.

He was recalled to prison and spent another two years behind bars before being released again in February 2018.

Ray appeared in the Hamilton District Court in January, when he pleaded not guilty to a charge of knowing that his conduct was likely to frighten a woman and has been in custody ever since.

He was back in court on Wednesday, facing a charge after abusing a woman he thought had spread a rumour on Facebook that he was a paedophile - a rumour denied by both his lawyer and Judge Jonathan Down.

Ray was represented by duty lawyer Lyn Walkington, who said the claim led Ray to his state of upset.

He also opposed "outright" a Herald application to take his photo as he didn't want any of his private information "out there" - in the public domain.

Walkington said Ray had been "trying the best he can" while on parole and, prior to Covid-19, he had landed a job as a truck driver.

"He has been doing his best and staying with his mother at home.

"Prior to Covid he landed a job as a truck driver but feels that was pulled out from under his feet because he was delivering things and because of the modus operandi, or context, of the murder offences, which had a home invasion type context to them, probation pulled that [job].

Margaret and Jock Jamieson. Photo / File

"He was really excited about [being a truck driver].

"Now he finds himself in court for this spur of the moment, reactionary offending."

The charge carried a maximum three months' prison term; he'd already served half of that and more since being in custody.

A prisoner has to spend half of their sentence in jail if it is less than two years in length.

"Certainly there's a hefty penalty for doing this, potentially, if he has got to stay in custody until at least June," Walkington said.

Judge Down was sympathetic to Ray's predicament.

"You were accused of being a paedophile and that is simply not true.

"The reality is that as a result of this allegation you have been remanded in custody having been recalled by Corrections on an interim basis and that interim order is not to be heard and argued until June, which troubles me.

"That means you would have been in custody for the best part of six months before this order is even challenged."

Judge Down imposed a short 28-day prison term as his penalty as he wanted to ensure Ray's rehabilitation was not "interrupted anymore than it has been".

In turning down an in-court camera application by the Herald, Judge Down said he accepted there maybe "general" public interest in the life of prisoners but the current charge was "relatively minor".

"It would be a shame, in my view, if the fact that you had been recalled for a relatively minor offence meant that your image is plastered over media again and you have to re-live some of the awful things that have happened in the past."

As for his offending, Judge Down relayed the threat in court that Ray made to the victim "No, it was you. I don't give a f***, everyone in that house is dead."

"Now there is no excuse for making such threats, you know that, but life experience tells me that people say awful things sometimes in the heat of the moment that they simply don't mean and I have concluded because of the position you were put in that you over-reacted to that; you said something dreadful and perhaps understandable in some way."

The short period of prison would punish Ray for the words he used, he said.

VICTIM'S UNAWARE OF MURDERER'S LOCATION

The Harrissons' daughter, Margaret Jamieson, was 47 when her parents were brutally murdered.

She and her husband Jock now live in Auckland.

When contacted about the offending, Jock Jamieson said he could see why Ray got so upset, but the threat wasn't wise given his background.

"I can sort of see where the judge might be a bit sympathetic if he had been called a paedophile and he's not. If someone called me a paedophile I'd be upset, to be fair.

"He's no angel we know that, but to be fair, if he has no history of it I don't know where she got that information from.

"When you have his background you have to watch what you say."