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Home / New Zealand

Nia Glassie trial: Instrument of torture in the laundry

NZ Herald
18 Nov, 2008 03:00 PM2 mins to read

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The drier into which the Curtis brothers put Nia.

The drier into which the Curtis brothers put Nia.

KEY POINTS:

As the crowds drifted away after the Nia Glassie trial and the prisoners were taken into custody to await sentence, Detective Sergeant Gary Hawkins and another officer carried an electric tumble drier from the court.

The household appliance - which in the hands of the Curtis brothers became
an instrument of torture - was placed in a police car, with items of clothing and other evidence from the four-week trial.

The drier was one of 29 exhibits presented during the hearing.

The killers put three-year-old Nia Glassie in the drier and turned it on. They also spun the toddler on a clothesline until she went flying off.

That was before they kicked her in the head, causing the injuries that killed her.

Mr Hawkins said the case had been investigated thoroughly, and police dedication to the case had resulted in yesterday's guilty verdicts. The inquiry had been complex and emotional.

Crown prosecutor Fletcher Pilditch - the man who had to prove the charges in court - was relieved it was all over.

Even though he knows what happened to Nia, like everyone he is still trying to understand why it happened.

"Even though I was there for the three and a half weeks of the evidence that the jury heard, much of what the court is concerned with is what happened to Nia and who was responsible for it.

"It's a very important question and certainly a question that everyone needs to ask after a case like this, but I don't really have an answer to that."

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