Double killer’s hunger strike after bizarre medication request denied
Tully wants access to peroxide to treat ear infection; it’s typically used as a bleach
Work and Income double killer Russell John Tully has been on hunger strike behind bars for 25 days, protesting that his bizarre self-medication regime has been blocked.
Tully, who is serving life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 27 years for the 2014 Winz slayings, stopped eating on April 8.
Otago Corrections Facility prison director Dave Miller said: “Staff are doing everything possible to encourage him to resume eating and are committed to supporting his health and well-being.”
It’s understood Tully, 54, claims prison bosses have stopped his preferred method of treating what he says is a recurrent ear infection that is penicillin-resistant.
Throughout his 2016 trial at the High Court in Christchurch, it was clear that Tully was preoccupied with what he felt was a debilitating skin condition — and that he used peroxide to treat it.
When one Ashburton Winz manager first met Tully in July 2014, he told her he had “some sort of skin-eating disorder” that he used peroxide to treat. He became annoyed when Winz staff said they couldn’t help him with cash to buy the hydrogen peroxide he tipped in his ear.
A pharmacist told the court she “wouldn’t recommend it for a skin condition”, saying it was typically used as a cleaning product or for bleaching fabrics.
It’s believed Tully plans to continue his hunger strike until his medication is reinstated.
Tully embarked on several selfinduced hunger strikes while awaiting trial — and during it — in protest against his perceived lack of medication. After 33 days of one hunger strike in prison, he says he nearly died.
“They knew I was chronically crook, they were waiting for me to die,” he claimed.
This week, Miller said the physical and mental health of all inmates is paramount and Tully is being closely monitored by health and custodial staff regularly. It includes “extensive and ongoing consultation” with both medical practitioners on site, as well as mental health services.
“The prisoner remains well, and there are no concerns at present that he is in any immediate danger. [Tully] has previously refused food in order to attempt to convince staff to meet his requests,” Miller said.
Otago Corrections Facility at Milburn, some 40km south of Dunedin, has comprehensive procedures for managing prisoners who voluntarily refuse food, including accommodating people in the Intervention and Support Unit to provide “enhanced oversight of them”; treatment and support from registered nurses, mental health clinicians and other staff; ensuring ongoing contact through phone calls with family; and facilitating contact with other support people as requested.
“Corrections will continue to work with this prisoner to ensure the appropriate support and treatment is provided,” Miller said.
Tully, who spent years working in the mines of Western Australia, is appealing his conviction and sentence.
A Court of Appeal spokeswoman confirmed his case has been rescheduled for a one-day fixture in Wellington on June 10.
The Herald on Sunday understands Tully believes he has a connective tissue disease which affected his state of mind at the time of the shooting and during his trial.
Tully was found guilty of storming the Ashburton Winz centre on September 1, 2014, and shooting dead receptionist Peggy Noble, 67, from point-blank range and shooting case manager Susan Leigh Cleveland, 55, three times as she pleaded for her life.
Justice Cameron Mander described the shootings as “coldblooded executions” by a “very dangerous person” capable of extremely violent actions.
Tully was found to be mentally capable of facing charges of doublemurder and attempted murder after an earlier hearing under the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003.