Pair jailed for 1995 killing
For 28 years, Angela Blackmoore’s family waited to have their day in court. When it came, they made the most of it.
One by one, four members of her family, including her partner Laurie Anderson, stood in the High Court in Christchurch yesterday and faced Rebecca Wright-Meldrum and David Hawken, convicted of Blackmoore’s 1995 murder, as they were sentenced. Both had been charged as parties to the murder. Hawken ordered it; Wright-Meldrum knowingly accompanied the killer.
Both were sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.
Justice Rachel Dunningham said the pair’s financial motive for the killing was “repugnant”, as was their pre-meditation to murder a pregnant woman. “Neither of you had any reason to want Ms Blackmoore dead ... Both of you knew [she] was pregnant.”
The judge was obliged to sentence them under 1995 law when 10 years was the minimum non-parole period for murder.
Anderson, in his victim impact statement, addressed Hawken and Wright-Meldrum one by one. Hawken, who had ordered Blackmoore’s murder, was “sheer evil”, he said.
“David, if it wasn’t for you, Angela would be happy and getting on with her new life. We had so many plans. If I could I would let you rot in jail for the rest of your life … If anyone deserved the death sentence it would be you for knowingly killing a pregnant woman.”
Blackmoore had a 2-year-old son when she was murdered, and was pregnant to Anderson. “I used to rub her tummy at night knowing we were making this beautiful baby together,” Anderson said. “We were planning all the things we were going to do together as a family. “The glow in her eyes, the excitement of the future, was intoxicating.”
In prison fatigues and with a full beard, Hawken faced Anderson, and every speaker. Wright-Meldrum bowed her head.
Anderson’s niece, Stacy Brosnan, said: “The 28 years you’ve both lived free, both walked around as if nothing has happened ... All because you were both too cowardly to admit what you had done. Listening to how Angela was alive through most of it was hell. Trying hard to protect her and the baby.”
Blackmoore’s cousin, Jill Purvis, said Wright-Meldrum’s betrayal of her friendship with Blackmoore was abhorrent. “What were you thinking when Angie was receiving the blow to her head? Was money all you could think of? You participated in the unthinkable and you choose to deny it. Angie’s life was worth more than any amount of money.”
Wright-Meldrum and Hawken were arrested in 2019 and 2020 for the murder of Blackmoore in 1995. She was brutally stabbed to death at the home she shared with her Anderson in 1995. She had a two-year-old son and was pregnant to him at the time.
The murder went unsolved for decades, until a Stuff story in 2019 in which police offered a $100,000 reward for information about the case. That drew a witness who pointed to roofer Jeremy Powell as the killer. Powell confessed to police and implicated Wright-Meldrum, his former girlfriend, and Hawken in the crime.
In 1995, Hawken was living in a house on Cashel St, Christchurch, owned by Blackmoore and her former husband William Blackmoore. Facing bankruptcy, Hawken plotted to kill Blackmoore and gain some financial benefit from the property.
The trial hinged on Powell’s testimony. He had pleaded guilty to murder and as a witness attested to Hawken’s motive and WrightMeldrum’s
presence at the crime scene as a friendly face to get her and Powell in the door of Blackmoore’s Wainoni home.
Powell said the plan was to knock her unconscious, then slit her throat. Instead, she was subjected to a frenzied stabbing. She suffered 39 wounds to her head, neck and arms.
The Crown argued Powell had no reason to lie and other evidence supported parts of his testimony. The defence cast Powell as self-serving – trying to spread the blame to reduce his culpability and the shame he had brought to his family. At sentencing, defence lawyers for both argued there were no exceptional circumstances warranting an increased non-parole period by 1995 law. Justice Dunningham ultimately agreed, although said without some mitigating factors, Hawken may have faced 11 years.
Police acknowledged the “long and painful journey” for the family waiting for case to be solved. “Today’s sentencing doesn’t bring Angela back,” Detective Sergeant Todd Hamilton said. “And it certainly doesn’t cure the grief the family has endured, but we hope it will help them move forward.”
Outside court, Laurie Anderson said he understood the comparatively light sentences for Blackmoore’s killers. “I intend to be at every parole hearing. I don’t go away. I’m going to haunt them.”
By the time they are eligible for parole, it will be nearly 40 years since Blackmoore’s death. In her victim impact statement, her cousin Leanne Keen spoke of the burden of not knowing. Many family members had died before the murder was solved.
“Rot in hell the pair of you,” she said to Hawken and Wright-Meldrum.
“It’s been a bloody long time coming.”