$10k travel bill for wife murderer
Hookern says when police say something is a civil matter, what they’re really saying is it’s too hard to prove something criminal has occurred.
‘‘From a legal perspective the guy can say he loved her,’’ he explains. ‘‘It’s very hard to prove there was criminal intent.’’
The threshold to prove criminality is high. A person alleging they’ve been scammed by a lover needs to be able to prove they’ve been lied to.
‘‘When someone has willingly given their new partner their Eftpos card to use it makes it hard to prove something untoward has gone on.’’
Detective Inspector Iain Chapman agrees it’s complicated.
‘‘One of the questions we have to ask is would a reasonable practical person have parted with their PIN number? If you leave your keys in the car and the car gets stolen you have to take some responsibility.’’
But Signal points out men like Lowe often have a long history of similar offending and aren’t deterred by jail.
‘‘He was very smart,’’ she says. ‘‘He is very familiar with the line he’d need to cross for the situation to become criminal and doesn’t cross it.’’
When Signal didn’t get anywhere with police she decided she needed to warn others of Lowe. She set up a Facebook page called the Craig Anthony Lowe Experience and was flooded with messages.
‘‘He’d headed further north and was using Tinder to find new people to con.’’
Signal doesn’t think it should be up to the public to protect themselves against a known conman like Lowe. ‘‘This is a guy with a long history who is known to police, there needs to be some way of safeguarding people from him.’’
Gillam suggests doing due diligence on new relationships: even a simple Google search of the person’s name.
‘‘People looking for love are vulnerable, they’ve suddenly got this person interested in them,’’ he says. ‘‘An emotional connection can cloud the person’s judgment.’’
And if you do get scammed? Well, get your own back, says Andrew Hooker. Even if police aren’t willing to prosecute, victims of a sweetheart scam can take out a private prosecution.
‘‘If there’s compelling evidence then there’s no reason why someone can’t do something, bankrupt the guy. Give him a taste of his own medicine.’’ FORMER psychiatrist Colin Bouwer ticked ‘‘widowed’’ for his relationship status, and under convictions he wrote ‘‘murder’’.
‘‘I have been away from South Africa for 20 years,’’ he wrote to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. ‘‘Since being in prison I have developed Stage 4 chronic disease of kidneys.’’
But the 67-year-old’s appeal to stay in New Zealand on humanitarian grounds was declined and he was deported to South Africa on October 9.
Bouwer served 15 years in prison for murdering his wife, Annette Bouwer, in Dunedin in January 2000.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has now released documents, under the Official Information Act, concerning Bouwer’s deportation, including travel costs.
One letter from INZ to South African authorities before Bouwer left New Zealand said: ‘‘Due to the nature of his offending, the airline he will be travelling with required him to be escorted by a minimum of two police officers.’’
A breakdown of the costs revealed three police officers accompanied Bouwer, one as far as Singapore and the other two to Johannesburg.
Before his travel, the Government invoiced Bouwer for $10,174.40. The bill included his one-way ticket, and return tickets and accommodation for his three escorts. He was yet to pay, but remained liable for the invoice.
Bouwer was arrested on September 15, 2000, after a lengthy police investigation that included surveillance of his phone calls.
In November 2001, a jury took less than three hours to find the former University of Otago head of psychiatry guilty of murdering his wife. He committed the crime within two years of being granted a residency permit.
He was sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch to life imprisonment and served his non-parole period of 15 years most recently at Rolleston Prison.
In June, Bouwer, through his Dunedin-based legal team, appealed against deportation, but was rejected on the grounds it was lodged out of time.
‘‘Deportation looms if I am granted parole,’’ Bouwer wrote. ‘‘My medical condition is so bad I need to stay in New Zealand.’’