Former real estate agent Gerard Baden-Clay was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday, meaning he'll spend a minimum of 15 years behind bars for killing the mother of his children.
The damning fingernail scratches on his right cheek on April 20, 2012 - the day he reported his wife missing - were enough to persuade the Brisbane Supreme Court jury he was guilty of murder.
2. TVNZ star's secret wedding
TVNZ presenter Greg Boyed, who is filling in on Breakfast this week, secretly married glamorous Swiss singer songwriter Caroline Chevin in an intimate ceremony in her homeland.
The groom, who prefers to keep his personal life schtum, has been showing private photos of his wedding day to workplace colleagues, who were surprised by the secret nuptials.
"He said he was going on a two-week holiday to Switzerland, but we never guessed he'd come home married," said a delighted TVNZ friend. "We're very happy for Greg. It's such a romantic story."
3. Doc's ice challenge warning
The Ice Water Challenge, where participants are doused with a bucket of ice cold water, is potentially fatal - even without alcohol, a doctor warns.
Former neonatal paediatrician Dr Stephen Wealthall wants the social media game, aimed at raising money for charity, to stop before someone else dies.
Northland man Willis Tepania, 40, died on July 7 after going into cardiac arrest following the challenge, in which ice water was poured over his head before he drank a bottle of bourbon.
But Dr Wealthall, who has studied the sudden exposure of the head and face to cold water, believed Mr Tepania's heart attack was likely triggered by the challenge and said alcohol was a distraction to the debate.
"The throwing of cold water unexpectedly over the face and head is an extreme danger."
It invoked the airway protective reflex which closed the larynx, slowing the heart rate and causing a person to stop breathing, he said.
4. Going, going and... still going
A mansion valued at $33 million is among properties in Auckland's most exclusive suburbs, on secluded island beaches or farmland that are awaiting rich-list buyers.
A Herald comparison of listings on property website Realestate.co.nz reveals mansions - whose features include pools, tennis courts and helipads - that have been on the market from as long ago as 2006.
The 10 oldest listings for residential properties in the Auckland region, excluding some outlying island homes, were dated between October of that year and the same month in 2008.
A 10-bedroom Puhoi mansion with an asking price of $1.599 million was the longest listed. Rodney Real Estate agent Alan Morton-Jones said the Puhoi property had been on and off the market since 2006.
5. Ex-Kiwi cop killed in Hawaii shooting
Josh Liava'a and Princess Siuilikutapu, soon after their wedding in 1970. File photo / NZ Herald
A former Auckland policeman and Kiwi league representative who romanced two Pacific princesses has died in Hawaii, after an apparent family shooting.
Josh Liava'a, whose marriage to Tongan Princess Mele Siu'ilikutapu was annulled five weeks after they wed in Auckland in 1969, died on Monday after being shot in Kahaluu, according to Tongan news website New Zealand Kaniva Pacific.
Hawaii News Now reported Samuela Mataele, 18, was arrested after a seven-hour manhunt over a shooting incident involving his uncle.
Tongan-born Liava'a, 65, represented New Zealand at the 1975 league World Cup.
- nzherald.co.nz, NZ Herald, APNZ, AAP
