Questions remain about the speed Lundy would have had to drive, reports PAULA OLIVER.
The accusation that Mark Lundy drove home at speeds of 150km/h to murder his wife and daughter has become one of the most-discussed points of his seven-week trial.
Police claim Lundy made the return journey from Petone to
suburban Palmerston North in less than three hours - but a detective trying to repeat the dash took longer.
Another witness, private investigator Paul Bass, gave evidence that he tried three times to drive from Petone to Palmerston North taking different routes each time, and his fastest trip was 1hr 56min.
That would have given Lundy only one hour to commit the murders and get back to his motel, said defence lawyer Mike Behrens, QC.
But the jury decided that such timing was feasible.
Cellphone records show that Lundy was in the Petone area at 5.38pm on August 29, 2000. The next time he made a call was at 8.28pm, and that placed him in the Lower Hutt area.
Lundy drove a powerful, four-litre Ford Fairmont, and friends say he often drove it fast.
A regular travelling salesman, he knew the road to Wellingtonwell.
He usually chose a route through Opiki and Shannon - a well-known local shortcut - and joined State Highway One just past Levin.
Detective Danny Johanson told the court he took an identical car and did the return trip in 3 hours five minutes and four seconds.
He said he could have gone faster, but did not because of public safety.
"If you pushed the car, you could do it," he told the court.
The route Lundy travelled between Palmerston North and the outskirts of Levin gave him the opportunity to speed.
The road is straight, there are passing lanes on the few hills, and when Mr Bass gave evidence he said the traffic cruised at up to 140km/h.
Lundy would then have had to thread his way down State Highway One, through settlements such as Otaki, Waikanae, Paraparaumu and Pukerua Bay, where speed restrictions apply.
The area is notorious for traffic jams and serious accidents, and major roadworks now litter the route. There are not many passing lanes, and traffic is usually heavy.
Lundy had two options when he reached the area - he could take the precarious Paekakariki Hill Rd, which is full of tight twists and turns, or he could carry on to Plimmerton and take a quick trip over the Haywards Hill Rd.
He left in peak hour and returned in darkness.
Nobody noticed him travelling in either direction.
Around Palmerston North, the locals brag about how fast they have done the trip.
But not many people the Herald spoke to in the days during the trial could say they had done it as quickly as a jury decided Lundy did.
Questions remain about the speed Lundy would have had to drive, reports PAULA OLIVER.
The accusation that Mark Lundy drove home at speeds of 150km/h to murder his wife and daughter has become one of the most-discussed points of his seven-week trial.
Police claim Lundy made the return journey from Petone to
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