March 30 marks the 20th anniversary of Waikato mother-of-three Sara Niethe's disappearance. Her body has never been found despite her boyfriend Mark Pakenham admitting he killed her. Pakenham was charged with her murder in 2011 but before his case went to trial he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. He has always refused to tell police where Niethe’s body is, but admitted he injected Niethe with methamphetamine on March 30, 2003, causing her death. Twenty years on from Sara's dea...
Mar 28, 2023•45 min•Ep. 40
Warning: this episode contains graphic descriptions of murder and the disposal of a body and is suitable for a mature audience only. In 2010 Auckland woman Carmen Thomas was reported missing by her ex-partner Brad Callaghan. He told police she had failed to pick up their little boy as per their shared custody arrangement and he was worried. Police launched an investigation but there was no sign of Carmen. Three months later Callaghan was arrested and the brutal and macabre details of Carmen's mu...
Feb 17, 2023•57 min
Police figures show between mid-2012 and 2022, about 280 people were convicted of murder in Aotearoa. Of those, 9.5 per cent of offenders - 26 in total - were women.A further 47 women were convicted of manslaughter, 27 per cent of the 271 total offenders in that category. n the latest episode of A Moment In Crime senior crime and justice reporter Anna Leask looks back at some of New Zealand’s most shocking cases of murder, manslaughter and even some mercy killings carried out by women. This epis...
Dec 26, 2022•1 hr 9 min
For nearly eight years Auckland woman Pakeeza Yusuf and her 3-yeard-old daughter, Juwairiyah “Jojo” Kalim, lay covered by stone and mud on Auckland’s North Shore. They were murdered as they slept in late 2006 but for many years nobody knew about their grisly fate. A decade later in 2016, Kamal Gyanendra Reddy was found guilty of their murder by a jury. A six-month undercover police operation drew a confession from him on October 14, 2014, where he admitted to strangling Pakeeza with the cord of ...
Dec 11, 2022•52 min
In September 2008 New Zealanders were shocked by the killing of a man who stepped in to help a woman in danger in central Auckland. Austin Hemmings, 44, was fatally stabbed when he intervened in a confrontation as he left work. The good Samaritan was simply trying to help a woman who was in clear distress and who had called out for help after a man confronted her and threatened her. Pauesi Leofa Brown stabbed Hemmings in the chest and the father-of-three died soon after. Brown was later sentence...
Oct 31, 2022•40 min•Ep. 36
Christchurch caregiver Valerie May Heaney, 64, was found dead in the hallway of her Bromley home on April 4 2022. Initially, police said her death was unexplained but after a post-mortem examination, it became clear something violent and horrific had happened to Val. Elliot Ajay Prakash, 43, was later charged with her murder. He was a boarder at Heaney's home and the pair were sometimes lovers. In this episode of A Moment In Crime I'll tell you why - and how - Prakash killed Val, and what he tol...
Oct 06, 2022•33 min
When Phillip John Smith left a Waikato prison on approved temporary leave in 2014 no one suspected that within days he would be leading authorities on an international man hunt. Smith, also known as Phillip John Traynor, was meant to spend his time outside the wire at an address in Auckland with a sponsor. The leave was part of a plan to reintegrate the convicted killer and sex offender back into the community. But instead of going to the address in Auckland he made his way to the airport and bo...
Sep 28, 2022•42 min
The 1998 murder of the Ashburton schoolgirl remains one of New Zealand's most high-profile cold cases. Kirsty disappeared on December 31, 1998, while walking the family dog Abby on the banks of the Ashburton River. The day after Kirsty went missing, the family's dog Abby was found tied to a tree near the river, and the teen's underwear was nearby. Her body was found two weeks later, hidden in dense scrub almost 50km away. To date, no one has been arrested for her murder and police recently annou...
Aug 26, 2022•46 min•Ep. 33
In 2013 Auckland couple Glenys Stanton and Trevor Waite were gunned down in bed together at his home in Opaheke south of the city. Their killer was John Mowatt, an ex of Stanton who spiralled out of control when she ended their relationship. Mowatt killed himself at Woodhill Forest north of Auckland days after the double murder. The crime, later dubbed 'the bedroom murders' shocked the country. If there is a case you want to hear more about email anna.leask@nzme.co.nz READ MORE ON THE CASE HERE:...
Aug 05, 2022•36 min•Ep. 32
In October 1985 Arthur Easton was murdered in his Papakura family home. Easton and his two teenage sons were attacked by a bayonet-wielding home invader. The 52-year-old postal worker was stabbed in his liver during the frenzied attack and died of blood loss after emergency services arrived on the scene. Alan Hall was convicted of murder in 1986 and spent 19 years in prison for the crime. However Hall was not the person who killed Easton. He maintained his innocence for almost four decades and i...
Jul 04, 2022•31 min•Ep. 31
This episode contains strong language. In 2001 Bruce Thomas Howse murdered his stepdaughters Olympia Jetson and Saliel Aplin as they lay in their beds at their Masterton home. The girls - aged just 11 and 12 - had suffered years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of Howse and despite their cries for help, it never came. Today A Moment In Crime is about the tragic deaths of the young sisters and the impact on their family, particularly their older sister Alicia. This episode of A Moment In...
Jun 23, 2022•54 min
In January 2020 Rena Joyce walked into a Christchurch police station and made a startling confession. She told officers she had killed her partner Martin Berry and that his body was buried in the compost heap at his home. Following a trial in March 2022 Joyce - who had previous convictions for assaulting her partner - was found guilty of murdering Berry and in May she was sentenced to life in prison. In this bonus episode of A Moment In Crime, Herald senior journalist Anna Leask goes inside the ...
May 27, 2022•39 min•Ep. 29
In 2007 Christchurch woman Emma Louise Agnew was found dead - murdered by a man she met while trying to sell her car. The 20-year-old was reported missing on November 15 and her body was found 12 days later, hidden beneath vegetation and pine needles near a holiday park in the north of the city. Emma's death was shocking and tragic - but when details emerged of what happened to her and who was responsible, there was outrage. Liam James Reid was arrested the day after Emma was found and charged w...
May 17, 2022•40 min
In 1992 Susan Burdett was found dead in her South Auckland home. The 39-year-old had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a baseball bat she kept by her bed for protection. Susan's story was awful and tragic but would become much more so when the wrong man was convicted of her murder and jailed for more than 20 years. In this month's episode of Herald podcast A Moment In Crime senior journalist Anna Leask looks into the death of Susan Burdett and the botched police investigation that...
Apr 22, 2022•57 min•Ep. 27
In September 2003 Helen Meads was gunned down at her Matamata home by her husband Greg. She was shot at close range, her body found soon after by police in the stables at the property she shared with her racehorse breeder husband Greg Meads. Meads was charged with Helen's murder and it later emerged that their marriage had been rife with domestic violence and the last fatal assault came after she announced she was leaving. Meads denied that he meant to kill Helen. While he admitted to shooting h...
Mar 31, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 26
On February 8 1997 Stephen Lawrence Anderson gunned down six people and wounded five others during a rampage at a ski lodge just out of Raurimu in the central North Island. The tragedy remains one of the worst mass shootings in New Zealand history. In this episode, Anna Leask revisits the day of the massacre and speaks to survivors, witnesses and the cop who took down the killer. The gunman also shares his story in his own words. For more on this case visit: Remembering Raurimu: victims break th...
Feb 26, 2022•38 min
On a Monday morning in June 2004 Jim Donnelly got up and went to work at a steel mill south of Auckland. But he never came home. The metals scientist has been missing every since and his wife has never given up hope that one day the mystery will be solved. For a full feature on this case visit nzherald.co.nz If you have information about what happened to Jim Donnelly contact Inspector Dave Glossop at the Counties Manukau Police david.glossop@police.govt.nz or A Moment In Crime host Anna Leask an...
Jan 15, 2022•59 min
Peter Holdem was a prolific sex offender and told police when he was arrested in the early 80s that the next little girl he targeted would die. In 1986 he grabbed Louisa Damodran as she walked home from school and his horrific promise came true. For more on this case and others mentioned in the podcast visit: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/author/anna-leask/ SEXUAL HARM - DO YOU NEED HELP? If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111. If you've ever experienced se...
Dec 12, 2021•40 min
The death of Christie Marceau in November 2011 shook New Zealand. The 18-year-old was fatally stabbed in her own home and died in her mother's arms. The man responsible for the attack was on bail for previously kidnapping and assaulting Christie and had been released on bail 32 days before he killed her. He had been ordered to stay away from Christie and her family. This episode of A Moment In Crime marks the 10-year anniversary of Christie's tragic death. If you are worried about your or someon...
Nov 06, 2021•57 min
Herald journalist Anna Leask looks back at the case of Colin Mitchell - the man behind an attack on a Auckland woman in 2017. What started as an apparent random attack soon unravelled as four decades of offending by a serial rapist who was finally revealed. If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111. If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact the Safe to Talk confidential crisis helpline by texting 4334 and they wi...
Oct 07, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Who killed Chris and Cru Kahui? The twin brothers were only 84 days old when they died, within hours of each other, after being violently assaulted. Their deaths remain one of New Zealand's worst child abuse cases. Are you worried about the safety of a child? If you have concerns about the immediate safety of a child, call 111. Alternatively contact your local police station. Or, contact Oranga Tamariki, Ministry for Children on 0508 326 459 for advice or www.orangatamariki.govt.nz/contact-us/co...
Aug 30, 2021•1 hr
In 1998 Auckland woman Claire Hills didn't make it to work. The 30-year-old was murdered, burned alive in her own car. Her killer left clues - DNA even - but after 23 years police are still no closer to finding him. If you can help police phone 0800 OP HILLS. SEXUAL HARM - DO YOU NEED HELP? If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111. If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact the Safe to Talk confidential crisis he...
Jul 09, 2021•35 min
In this episode of Herald true-crime podcast A Moment In Crime we look into the beginnings of Gloriavale and the ongoing list of men brought to justice for sex crimes against children within the confines of the religious community. And podcast host Anna Leask speaks about her own time at Gloriavale, reflecting on all she saw and experienced during a visit to the place often referred to as a cult or sect. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 24, 2021•44 min
Ben Smart and Olivia Hope went missing over New Year 1997. Their bodies were never found but a man was convicted of their murders and jailed for life. In today's episode of A Moment In Crime we revisit the enduring mystery, See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 06, 2021•34 min
In this month's episode of A Moment In Crime, senior journalist Anna Leask looks back a the murder of Grace Millane, a young backpacker from the UK who died in Auckland, New Zealand in 2019. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 22, 2021•49 min
In 1992 toddler Amber-Lee Cruickshank disappeared from a small South Island town. Despite exhaustive searches spanning almost 30 years, there has never been any sign of the 2-and-a-half-year-old. The Herald re-investigated the case in 2017 and episode 15 of A Moment In Crime goes back to a podcast that ran about the toddler and her family's journey since she vanished. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 16, 2021•29 min
After a high profile trial in November this year, Christchurch engineer Joseph McGirr was acquitted by a jury of giving ecstasy to a US polo player before she died in his spa bath. But he was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice by burying her clothing after her death. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 18, 2020•36 min
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 06, 2020•48 min
A 9.51am on September 1 2014 a balaclava-clad man stormed into the Work and Income New Zealand office in Ashburton and opened fire. In just 61 seconds he gunned down and killed two women and almost murdered two more. Then he calmly walked back out of the office, unlocked his bike and peddled away into the distance - leaving bloody carnage and chaos in his wake. The man was Russell John Tully and his horrendous, deliberate and planned actions that day shook New Zealand. See omnystudio.com/listene...
Oct 24, 2020•46 min
In episode 11 of NZME podcast A Moment In Crime we look back at the front line deaths and revisit some of the stories that have shocked and saddened New Zealand. The episode comes two days before the annual police Remembrance Day - a date marked internationally to pay tribute to cops killed while on duty, and others who have passed during the year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 26, 2020•43 min
