Maya Moore has been found guilty of torching two properties in October 2022 after a farming fallout.
A woman who chose not to attend her trial on serious arson charges has been found guilty by a jury.
Maya Moore wasn’t in the Wellington District Court yesterday to hear the jury’s verdict on all nine charges, including five of arson and one of attempted arson, as well as resisting arrest and possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The jury returned after four hours of deliberations, with Judge Peter Hobbs telling them that Moore, 50, had been asked every day of her trial, which began last Wednesday, whether she wanted to attend. But she chose not to for her own reasons, he said.
During the trial, the court heard that, before the fires at two neighbouring properties near Greytown on the night of October 10, 2022, Moore had been working for several months for dairy farmer Gerry Van Dalen and his wife, and lived in a sleepout at their property.
She leased two paddocks for her small herd of cattle on a neighbour’s property, owned by Dave Morrison and Sandra Rynhart. Both couples lived on Wards Line, outside Greytown.
By October 2022, Moore had fallen out with both couples. She’d lost her job and been asked to leave the Van Dalens’ property. She was in a dispute with Morrison and Rynhart over the leasing agreement, to the point that lawyers had become involved.
During the trial, the court heard from 34 witnesses, including the homeowners, fire investigators, police officers and staff at PHF Science (formerly ESR). No evidence was presented by Moore.
In summing up the case to the jury yesterday morning, Judge Hobbs said the real issue was whether the Crown had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Moore was responsible for the charges she faced.
In its closing arguments, the Crown said that, on the night of the fires, after the Van Dalens had gone to bed, Moore loaded tyres, diesel, buckets, fuel containers and overalls from their property into a car and drove across muddy, uneven terrain in near darkness.
The Crown said the fires were set in locations where they were intended to cause damage to property and endanger lives.
While the exact sequence of events was not known, it was likely that the first fires were lit at Morrison and Rynhart’s property before Moore went to the Van Dalens to light fires there.
It took her less than 10 minutes to make her way across the paddocks and light the fires, which caused $2m in damage.
The Crown said Moore was the only one with the motive, means and opportunity to light the fires.
She was upset at losing her job with the Van Dalens and unhappy with the lease arrangement for her cattle.
Before the fires, she told one friend that she felt alone and wanted to do something that would get her sent to prison.
On the night of the fires, Moore woke another neighbour and told her: “No one’s going to be safe, and I’ve had enough. I’m going to deal with it.”
She knew where the Van Dalens stored the items needed to set the fires, and knew her way around the properties in the near darkness, the trial was told.
When the Van Dalens went to bed that night, unusually, Moore’s car wasn’t parked outside the sleepout, but had returned by the time they were awoken by the fires.
Lawyer Janine Bonifant, who didn’t represent Moore but assisted the court in her absence, said it was clear the fires were started deliberately, but the jury had to be sure Moore was the one who was responsible.
She said the Crown’s case was circumstantial, with no direct evidence; no eyewitnesses, no confession, surveillance or CCTV footage.
The prosecution was asking the jury to infer guilt, and suspicion wasn’t enough to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.
A disagreement between the parties wasn’t enough to suggest a motive for arson, she said.
“People have disagreements every day, but you will agree the vast majority don’t resort to arson.”
The properties weren’t complex or difficult to navigate, and the items taken from the Van Dalens’ property weren’t locked away or secured. Anyone could have had access.
Bonifant said the Crown had pointed to threats Moore made before the fires, but it was clear from the evidence that Moore hadn’t made direct threats against anyone.
Again, Bonifant suggested that angry words said in the heat of the moment didn’t equate to an intention to commit arson.
Ultimately, the jury disagreed, finding Moore guilty of all charges. She will be sentenced in November.
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.