Sorrow, disbelief over young killers

Wendy Rowe, with brother Patrick Rowe, said she empathised with the parents of her father's killers. Photo / Alan Gibson

The young age of two attackers convicted of the brutal killing of an elderly retired man left police and the family of the victim with a sense of disbelief.

Courtney Pauline Churchward, 18, and Lori-Lea Waiora Te Wini, 15, were yesterday found guilty at the High Court in Rotorua of murdering John Rowe in Opotiki late last year.

Te Wini, 14 at the time of the attack, is New Zealand's second youngest girl to have committed murder.

Detective Inspector Rob Jones said an already difficult case was made "extremely tragic" by the youthful age of the killers.

He said the beating - in which the girls struck the 78-year-old with a bulky walking staff and a wooden broom handle - was cowardly and defied explanation.

"It is a tragedy for them and their families as much as it is for the victim and his family.

"It's a tragedy for the community of Opotiki who were reeling from the effect of that offending at the time.

"I'm sure equally they'll be relieved with the verdict. There must be a tremendous amount of sadness in that community."

The slightly-built girls remained calm through the trial and were blank-faced when the verdict was given.

A cluster of eight supporters sat completely silent in the gallery and bowed their heads.

Mr Rowe's family said the violent death of a private, quiet man was "incomprehensible".

Daughter Wendy Rowe said her father, a retired mathematics teacher, had always felt safe in his home. She said that since finishing his teaching career in 1984, he was content to live a homely life listening to classical music.

The uncle of Te Wini apologised outside the courthouse on behalf of the girls' families.

"Sorry for the actions of our children, that is all I have to say."

Ms Rowe said she was "utterly relieved" with the verdict, but she empathised with the killers' parents. "We realise these girls are daughters, sisters, nieces. We feel for their families."

Justice Geoffrey Venning said the jury's task had been made more strenuous by the young age of the killers and the horrendous nature of the assault.

The Crown portrayed the attack as close, personal and brutal.

Prosecutor Duncan McWilliam said the blows inflicted with a walking staff and a thin wooden broom handle went far beyond subduing a frail, 78-year-old man.

Churchward's lawyer, Paul Mabey, QC, argued that she was an experienced burglar - she boasted about how quickly she could rob a house, and could cover her tracks - but not a murderer. He rejected the Crown's argument that the attack was carried out with "bloodlust".

Te Wini's lawyer Gene Tomlinson had asked the jury to "never forget how young [Te Wini] was".

He likened the 15-year-old's role in the killing to being a naive passenger in a stolen car which had crashed.

The jury of six men and six women unanimously found the girls guilty after 4 hours of deliberation.

In recorded police interviews which were shown during the eight-day trial, Churchward had initially appeared brash and cocky.

At first she boasted that she had severed Mr Rowe's head and hands with an axe, a comment she retracted when the detective called her "silly".

She later chillingly leaned into the camera and said she gained satisfaction from violence.

"I am evil. I am evil ... I hurt a lot of people. I know what is right and what is wrong. I am sick of always being a nice person. I am mental."

This comment was dismissed as an act by her lawyer, and Churchward later said she had been imitating an abusive former boyfriend.

But in court Churchward was more sullen.

When presented with a ruler to imitate the way she struck Mr Rowe, she lifted it up and down meekly.

The two girls have been remanded until sentencing next month.