Julia DeLuney is on trial in the High Court at Wellington for the murder of her 79-year-old mother Helen Gregory in her Khandallah home. Video / Mark Mitchell
WARNING: This story contains some details about the scene that could be upsetting
Paramedics called to a Wellington home were met with a grisly scene, finding blood smeared on the walls and pooled on the bedroom carpet, and a woman now accused of murder holding her bloodied hands to herface.
That woman is Julia DeLuney, who is on trial in the High Court at Wellington, where she denies murdering her mother Helen Gregory and instead claims someone else was responsible.
Today, the court heard from some of the first responders called to Gregory’s three-bedroom home in Khandallah in January 2024.
Five paramedics from three suburban stations were called to the Baroda St property about 11.30pm, along with three firefighters, who assisted paramedics with chest compressions.
The court heard how a 111 call was made from the house, describing a fall and a cardiac arrest, which was an unusual combination.
Julia DeLuney who denies murdering her mother Helen Gregory in January last year. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
Andrew Cope, who was the first paramedic on the scene, told the court DeLuney met him in the hallway and directed him to a bedroom where her husband, Antonio DeLuney, was attempting CPR on Gregory.
Under cross-examination by DeLuney’s lawyer Quentin Duff, Cope said DeLuney had her bloodied hands to her face and appeared very distressed.
Julia DeLuney's lawyer Quentin Duff. Photo / Mark Mitchell
‘They both affirmed the story’
Another first responder, firefighter Rex Verry, was tasked with speaking to DeLuney and her husband in an attempt to find out what had happened to the 79-year-old victim.
He said the couple told him Gregory had fallen while trying to put toilet paper into the attic, which was accessed through a manhole at the top of a utility cupboard in the hall.
A built-in ladder on the right wall inside the cupboard leads up to the manhole.
“They both affirmed that story,” he said.
Verry said neither had seen the fall, but told him they had heard it, directing Verry to the cupboard.
Pictures of the cupboard, which were shown to the jury, show blood smeared on the two top rungs of the ladder. Blood could also be seen on the cupboard walls and running down the back walls.
Outside the cupboard, more blood could be seen dripping down the walls. Bloody marks continued down the left side of the corridor to the bedroom where Gregory was and there was a pool of blood on the bedroom floor.
Various items could be seen spilling out of the cupboard, including a packet of toilet paper, an ironing board, a metal pole and other items.
Paramedics described moving Gregory and some of the bedroom furniture in the room so they could work to try to revive her, using a defibrillator and applying chest compressions.
An intravenous line was also put into Gregory’s elbow to administer medicine, and her mouth was suctioned to remove fluid.
But when a significant head injury was discovered on the back of her head, life-saving efforts were stopped at 11.45pm.
Duff quizzed the first responders on whether they wore gloves at the scene and if police had photographed their shoes or requested their fingerprints.
They agreed they’d refused DeLuney’s request to see her mother that night, saying it was better to wait until she was more presentable.
An earlier burglary complaint
Police arrived shortly afterwards and secured the scene.
Constable Nicholas Hutton told the court he saw bloody footprints between the kitchen and dining room, as well as blood on the door handles of the side door, which everyone used that night because the front door was locked.
He told the court he couldn’t see any obvious points of entry from outside the house.
Under cross-examination by Duff, he said he didn’t know about a burglary complaint at the address that had been filed earlier that month.
Constable Stella Lowe told the court that when she spoke to DeLuney that night, the 53-year-old had told her Gregory had fallen while she searched for a top in the attic.
She’d put her to bed before leaving the house and returning later that night. But pressed by prosecutor Nicole Jamieson, she said DeLuney hadn’t elaborated further.
The Crown’s case is that DeLuney attacked her mother before staging the scene to make it look like she’d fallen from the attic.
She left the house only to return several hours later with her husband, claiming someone else had attacked her mother after she’d left the house.
But the defence say police had “tunnel vision” that excluded the most obvious explanation that someone else was responsible for killing Gregory.
Duff challenged Lowe’s evidence and particularly the claim she’d seen blood on DeLuney’s nail beds, asking what notes she’d taken at the scene.
Lowe explained she’d written a detailed job sheet about what she’d seen after she’d left the address.
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.
