Police happy with abused wife's manslaughter conviction

The detective in charge of the investigation into the poisoning of a Waikato man by his wife 16 years ago says he is not disappointed with yesterday's manslaughter verdict.

Christine King, 51, was found not guilty by a Hamilton High Court jury of murdering Wayne Roycroft.

King, who had suffered years of abuse from Mr Roycroft, killed him in 1988 by feeding him a massive overdose of sleeping pills and burying his body in the garden of their home at Waihou, 42km north east of Hamilton.

But while she admitted giving him the pills to make him go to sleep, she claimed she did not believe they would kill him.

Detective Senior Sergeant Glen Dunbier said he had spoken with Wayne Roycroft's family before the verdict came back, and they were satisfied that he was "no longer a missing person" and they now knew what had happened to him.

"This matter has had the benefit of a sound judicial hearing and ultimately someone has been found responsible... the result is what it is," he told National Radio this morning.

"I am very glad that everyone concerned, particularly the family of Wayne Roycroft, can put this matter behind them."

He said it had been "a very emotive time" for both families, who had had to endure much "dirty laundry" being exhibited in a public courtroom during the trial.

Police had given the matter a great deal of thought before charging King with murder, and the fact the jury took over eight hours to consider the verdict showed how appropriate it was that the matter had gone to trial, he said.

From an investigation point of view, police's task had been made that much more difficult by the passing of time.

"People's memories fade -- not so much people directly involved but people on the periphery, and there's a lessening of desire to come forward," he said.

"Memories become disjointed -- people can't remember whether something happened before or after Wayne went missing.

"The team has done remarkably well to pick up a case 16 years on and make something out of it.

He said there were "no winners" in the case but the verdict had given everyone involved "some finality and some closure".

King was remanded in custody for sentencing.

The dead man's brother, Aaron Roycroft, said the family was disappointed with the manslaughter verdict but they were glad to finally have the truth.

"We've known something had gone on, but we had no proof, police had no proof," he said today on the 17th anniversary of the last time the family saw Mr Roycroft alive.

"But she's got her justice and we can only be happy for that and we can put some sort of closure on it."

- NZPA