Julia DeLuney, a month after her mother Helen Gregory died in January 2024. DeLuney denies murdering her. Photo / Ethan Griffiths
Julia DeLuney, a month after her mother Helen Gregory died in January 2024. DeLuney denies murdering her. Photo / Ethan Griffiths
The trial of a former Wellington school teacher accused of swindling $15,000 from her elderly mother, before allegedly murdering her, begins today.
Helen Gregory’s death in January last year surprised neighbours in the quiet suburban Khandallah street where she lived alone.
After initially describing the death as unexplained,police upgraded their investigation to a homicide after a post-mortem revealed Gregory had died from a “violent act”.
Gregory’s obituary at the time described her as a dearly loved mother, mother-in-law and treasured grandmother.
Neighbours described her as a keen gardener, and a quiet woman who kept to herself.
One neighbour said Gregory’s only visitors were her daughter or, as she got older, her gardener.
As part of their investigations, police extended their search to a Porirua landfill, where they believed items of interest had been disposed of several hours after Gregory died.
The following month in February, Gregory’s daughter Julia DeLuney was arrested and charged with her murder.
The Crown’s case is that after deceiving Gregory into paying her $15,000 in the days before the alleged killing, DeLuney went to her mother’s house on Baroda St and attacked her with “significant, and ultimately fatal, force.”
It says DeLuney had traded cryptocurrencies for seven years.
The Crown alleges on the night of the murder, DeLuney’s husband Antonio called his wife asking when she would be home.
After that call, the Crown says DeLuney left her mother’s house and drove home, before the couple returned to Baroda St. Confronted by the scene, Antonio called 111 and performed CPR until ambulance staff arrived and took over.
The trial before Justice Peter Churchman is expected to take five weeks. Proceedings will begin this morning with the selection of a jury.
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.
