Julia DeLuney accused of murdering mother who hid cash around Wellington home

A woman killed in her Wellington home kept bags of money containing thousands of dollars in cash hidden around her house, including $50,000 in her freezer.

That woman, 79-year-old Helen Gregory, was killed in her Khandallah home in Janurary 24, 2024, allegedly by her daughter Julia DeLuney who had financial difficulties.

The Crown’s case is that DeLuney visited her mother that evening at her home in Khandallah home to book tickets for the ballet in celebration of her upcoming 80th birthday.

At some stage during the three-and-a-half hours she’d spent at her mother’s house, the Crown says Deluney attacked Gregory and left her dead or dying, before leaving the house at 9.45 pm. She’d staged the scene to make it look like her mother had fallen from the attic.

She later returned to the house with her husband, Antonio DeLuney, and they called first responders who arrived and found blood on the bedroom carpet and walls, down a hallway and on a ladder leading to the attic. Gregory was pronounced dead at 11.45 pm.

The court heard Gregory had extensive head wounds, and a post-mortem found she died from complications of blunt force trauma.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Jamieson on day one of the Julia DeLuney murder trial in the High Court at Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

What was the motive: Financial difficulties or someone else?

Crown prosecutor Nicole Jamieson said it may never be known why DeLuney killed her mother, but, at the time, the defendant was having financial difficulties.

The court heard the former school teacher spent her time trading cryptocurrency and Bitcoin.

Prior to the killing, DeLuney had invested some money into a cryptocurrency account. She contacted her mother, saying the account had made a profit and she needed to transfer $15,000 to her so she could withdraw the money.

The Crown says she used that money to pay off her debts.

Defence lawyer Quentin Duff. Photo / NZ Mark Mitchell

But, the defence told the jury in a brief opening statement today that someone else was responsible for Gregory’s death and that someone was knocking on neighbourhood doors that night.

Lawyer Quentin Duff accused police of having “tunnel vision” for failing to investigate anyone other than DeLuney.

Money bags left in wardrobe and freezer

A witness, whose name is suppressed, told the court Gregory had a “peculiar way” of handling money because she distrusted banks.

She’d leave cash inside ANZ money bags concealed in six or seven places around the house, including the freezer and wardrobe.

On one occasion, he recalled Gregory pulling a frozen bag containing $50,000 in cash from her freezer. The witness disagreed with Gregory’s approach and had “scoffed” when she’d shown him.

“She’d say, ‘If I slip on a banana peel, this is where it is’,” he said.

Julia DeLuney is on trial in the High Court at Wellington for the murder of her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory (insert), in her Khandallah home.

The man told the court he knew of two occasions, towards the end of 2023, when money went missing from Gregory’s house.

The first involved $40,000, which he said DeLuney initially denied taking, before eventually admitting she had taken it. He gave evidence that she had invested the money for her mother, wanting her to do well.

The man told the court Gregory wasn’t thrilled about her daughter’s actions, but she eventually came to terms with it.

Then again, in early 2024 the man said he became aware that another $13,000 had gone missing. When he spoke to Gregory about it, she said she thought she knew who’d taken the money and not to worry.

Under questioning from DeLuney’s lawyer, the man said Gregory wouldn’t have wanted $40,000 invested in cryptocurrency, and it took a month or so before she was able to accept it.

He said it was taken unwittingly from her, and she’d wanted it back.

But following questioning by Duff, the man admitted that he hadn’t indicated to the police that Gregory was apprehensive about the money being taken.

He said the conversation where he learnt about the money at the end of 2023, had ended abruptly and they’d never spoken about it again.

He agreed with Duff that Gregory hadn’t told him how much money was stolen and hadn’t called him distressed on the day it went missing. She’d only mentioned it later, on January 5th, last year.

The man also told the court of three occasions where Gregory had fallen. In particular, in September 2023, which resulted in her being hospitalised for a couple of days.

Another witness , who also has suppression, gave evidence about DeLuney’s demeanour at the time of her mother’s fall.

The woman said DeLuney was a recovering alcoholic who had relapsed and started drinking again, after 12 years of being sober.

She told the court she was aware that gin bottles were found in the room DeLuney was staying in at her mother’s house while Gregory was in the hospital. There was also vomit-stained sheets and dog poo littered around the house.

She said she’d spoken with DeLuney who admitted to drinking. She strongly encouraged Deluney to get help to ensure this wasn’t a big relapse. She said DeLuney told her she was sorry and that she would get it sorted.

‘I’m 52 and I have nothing’

The court also heard evidence that DeLuney’s trading in cryptocurrency didn’t always go well.

On January 10, 2024, the woman said they exchanged messages in which DeLuney admitted she was struggling financially, saying she would never be able to own her home and prepare for her retirement.

In one message, she said: “I’m 52 and I have nothing.”

The woman explained to the court that DeLuney hoped that through trading cryptocurrency, she’d once again be able to own her own home.

Asked by Duff about her knowledge of DeLuney’s crypto trading, she explained they’d only talked at surface level about it.

The jury trial before Justice Peter Churchman is expected to take four to five weeks.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.