‘Confident’ of arrests
As police close in on Lois Tolley’s killers, her family are dealing with the pain of commemorating the first anniversary of her brutal slaying.
Yesterday, Tolley’s mother Cathrine MacDonald told police ‘‘words cannot describe how we all feel, it just feels like yesterday these cowards took her from us, the pain does not get any easier’’.
‘‘We miss Lois so much – this has devastated our family and her friends. They stole her future from her and all of us.’’
Tolley, 30, was getting her life back on track when she was killed in her Ward St, Wallaceville, unit minutes before midnight on December 9, 2016. The woman friends called ‘‘Loie’’ was stabbed and shot at point-blank range in what police described as a targeted, execution-style murder.
One of the men in the group seen fleeing the area appeared in the driveway after the killing in a frenzied state, reportedly yelling, ‘‘What have we done?’’
After a flurry of leads, sightings and evidence released in the days and weeks after the killing the case seemed to go cold.
Details of a beanie, a jandal, a shoe, a gun, a knife, various vehicles and vague descriptions of the men in their 20s and 30s seen jogging from the house were all released widely in the aftermath, but, since May, police have offered little by way of information.
But the case is back in the spotlight with police choosing the first anniversary of Tolley’s death to announce that, while there were still no arrests, Operation Archer’s noose is tightening around ‘‘persons of interest’’ while some of those who know what really happened have started opening up to police.
A year ago, Lois Tolley was killed execution-style – stabbed and shot at point-blank range in her home. Matt Stewart reports.
was a small mercy meaning Tolley was likely not sexually assaulted.
‘‘She had her life on track . . . she was caring, loving and happy.
‘‘It hits home. You don’t expect it to happen to your friend and you don’t expect it to happen on your doorstep.’’
The woman believed the case would never be solved.
Doors down, another resident is more scared and says tonight she will barricade herself and her 18-month-old son and 8-year-old daughter into their flat – exactly as the family did a year ago.
‘‘I’m quite scared. I hate being on my own, especially at night time,’’ the woman, who wants to move away and was traumatised by the killing, said.
During the violence, her partner pushed her inside while he called the police.
‘‘We’d been drinking that night, but we sobered up after that pretty f .... ing quickly.’’
Tolley’s parents, Cathrine and Rodney MacDonald, speaking from Queensland – their home for the past 18 years – did not want to comment, but did say they were confident police would bring the case to court.
Early in the investigation, police seemed confident of getting swift justice – three days after Lois died Detective Senior Sergeant Warwick McKee appealed to the men to turn themselves in ‘‘before we come knocking on their door’’.
More leads were released publicly in January and then again in May, and now – a year since she died – Operation Archer head, Detective Senior Sergeant Glenn Barnett, says police are closing in on arrests with a pool of 130 ‘‘persons of interest’’ narrowed down to 12.
‘‘Although there have been no quick arrests, police and the investigation team of approximately 12 staff are still fully committed to solving this murder,’’ Barnett said.
At least 15 people with direct knowledge of who planned the attack, committed the murder and actively helped cover up the offenders’ involvement have been interviewed.
Until now those involved had refused to help police advance the investigation.
‘‘We are seeing this attitude slowly changing with a number of people starting to come forward with valuable information, and we thank them for their assistance. However, we still need more of the people who have spoken with the offenders to contact to us,’’ Barnett said.
As for a motive, Barnett said the attack may have been retribution for a perceived wrong.
‘‘They’ve gone there with a loaded firearm, they’ve gone there with another weapon – which we think may be a knife of some sort – they’ve smashed their way in through the front door. Lois has been at home, on her own, unprotected, and then there’s just been a brutal killing.’’
Meanwhile, Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy is backing police and said he too was confident the murder would be solved.
‘‘We’re a city that wants justice, and the people of Upper Hutt want justice. I’m convinced and I know the police will have everything together at some stage and there will be a conviction . . .
‘‘I know it’s been a year, I know that’s a worry for everyone and we, as a community, think of Lois and think of her family but I know the police will solve this.’’
Who was Lois Tolley?
In the months leading to her violent death, Lois Rita Tolley had lost 100 kilograms and was turning her life around.
‘‘She just decided she wanted to be a grown-up and find a good job that she loved,’’ her aunt, Rita Cole, said soon after the murder.
Her niece loved her friends, family and her cats, and ‘‘always saw the good in everybody’’.
‘‘Even those nasty people [at the centre of the investigation], she wouldn’t have had a bad thing to say about them. She was a passionate person, and that spread to her friends and family.
‘‘She will be so sadly missed.’’ Tolley had worked hard to get her life on track after ‘‘a bit of a tough childhood’’, Cole said.
She was the youngest of four siblings, lived alone with her two cats and had family both in New Zealand and Australia.
She was passionate about cooking and loved her job at a Wellington-based events management company.
Lifelong friend Jennifer Rose Williams said Tolley was a ‘‘rock’’ for her friends and was making a great life for herself.
‘‘She was shining, her life was just starting to come together.’’
‘‘We miss Lois so much – this has devastated our family and her friends. They stole her future from her and all of us.’’ Cathrine MacDonald, mother of Lois Tolley, pictured