‘Beast’ found guilty of further sex offences
Stewart Murray Wilson, also known as the Beast of Blenheim, has been found guilty of historical sex charges at a trial in the High Court at Auckland.
Yesterday, a jury of six men and six women returned guilty verdicts to 11 charges including rape, attempted rape, indecent assault, threatening to kill, and indecency with a girl under the age of 12.
Wilson was found not guilty on two char- ges of rape and one charge of indecent assault, with the jury not able to reach verdicts on one charge of indecent assault and one charge of threatening to kill.
The Crown indicated that it would not seek a retrial on the charges where a verdict was not reached.
Stuff was previously unable to report that Wilson was facing the charges, which were laid in 2017 after an investigation into the allegations started in 2012.
Justice Graham Lang made a ruling prior to the trial that Wilson’s name, and nickname, should continue to be suppressed until verdicts were reached. This was to ensure Wilson had a fair trial.
Wilson, one of New Zealand’s worst sex offenders, was in 1996 jailed for 21 years for crimes that shocked the country. His offending involved at least 42 women and girls. The jury was not told about Wilson’s previous offending or his 1996 trial.
The evidence heard by the jury related to four complainants who alleged they were each raped by Wilson at different times, and at different locations, around New Zealand during the 1970s. Wilson, who is now 71, was aged between 26 and 33 at the time.
One of the complainants was aged just 9 when the offences happened. Each gave accounts of how Wilson used violence and manipulation to control and rape them.
In his closing statement, Crown prosecutor Robin McCoubrey told the jury each woman detailed a similar series of events which led to them being raped.
‘‘I suggest they all lend weight to each other’s story. In each case they tell a story of almost immediate physical control and sexual violence,’’ McCoubrey said.
‘‘There is a similar theme running through each story which lends weight to my arguments to you that they all got it right.’’
Wilson’s defence team, led by Andrew McKenzie, did not opt to give evidence.
After serving his 21-year sentence, Wilson was released on strict conditions to live on the grounds of Whanganui Prison in a self-contained house. He is currently under an extended supervision order – meaning he is constantly monitored and has minders with him when he goes out in public.
Wilson will be sentenced on his most recent convictions next month.