Crimes that captivated the country
In a year blighted by 45 murders and almost 8000 assaults, several incidents stood out for our readers
By the end of October this year, more than 220,000 New Zealanders had become victims of crime. According to police statistics, there had been 45 murders, 7680 assaults, 54,111 burglaries and break-ins and 122,175 thefts reported. The Herald has reported much of the crime that took place across the country but some stories piqued your interest more than others.
These are the top-read crime and justice stories of 2015.
The Bedroom Murders 125,000 readers
In August 2013, lovers Glenys Stanton and Trevor Waite were gunned down at his Opaheke home by her jealous ex-boyfriend John Mowatt, who then led police on a manhunt across Auckland before turning his firearm on himself in Woodhill Forest.
This month, Coroner Katharine Greig released her findings — a detailed 25-page report — that outlined how and why the shocking crime happened.
Mr Waite and Ms Stanton had met on a networking website and had been seeing each other on and off since March 2013.
Ms Stanton had also been seeing Mowatt, whom she met in April on a dating website. But days before the double murder she had ended things with him.
On Friday, August 23, Mr Waite and Ms Stanton drank wine together at his Ponga Rd home and went to bed. Mowatt then shot his way through a ranch-slider into the master bedroom and murdered the lovers.
He fired 29 rounds in total. Mr Waite and Ms Stanton were hit by eight bullets each. They died from wounds to the neck and chest and were found on the Sunday morning by Mr Waite’s daughter Kelsey, who had stayed at the house the night before after attending a party in the area. She had no idea the bodies lay in a bedroom just up the hallway from her own.
After Kelsey, then 18, made the grisly discovery, police launched a homicide investigation and their focus quickly turned to Mowatt.
Mowatt knew they were on to him, and days after he gunned down the lovers — and as armed police closed in on his hiding place in the forest — he shot himself in the head. Following his death, police found a cache of firearms belonging to Mowatt, described by his son as a “gun nut”.
The David Cerven shooting 105,676 readers
The sound of gunshots pierced a quiet Sunday night in Auckland’s CBD. A man had been fatally shot by police in Myers Park.
Hours earlier, police had appealed for sightings of David Cerven, a Slovakian national living in Auckland. They believed he was behind a spate of armed robberies over several days and wanted to track him down.
At 7.23pm, Cerven called 111 and said he was in the park and wanted to speak to police. Several officers were dispatched and Cerven told them he was armed.
They retreated, called for backup and at 7.30pm two armed cops arrived at the park, 400m from the Auckland Central police station. They approached Cerven and he responded by advancing on them.
Believing he had a firearm, they shot him.
Cerven’s death is still the subject of a number of investigations, including one by the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
Police have released little information about the fatal incident as investigations are ongoing, but said the officers involved were “about 10 to 20 metres away from him and right in the line of fire . . . they have both assessed the situation as an immediate fatal threat and discharged their weapons around the same time”.
The entire episode was recorded on CCTV cameras in the park.
Cerven had arrived in New Zealand in March and was working as an apprentice for Topline, a roofing and plumbing company based in Mt Eden.
Woman murdered, friend wounded in college stabbing 40,557 readers
Leaving her controlling husband was supposed to be the start of Parmita Rani’s new life. Instead, the 22-year-old died for her decision.
On May 22, Ms Rani had just finished an exam at the AWI International Education Group building in Queen St and was leaving with her friend Parminder Sandhu.
Her estranged husband Mandeep Singh, who had earlier purchased knives, was waiting for her in the foyer of the college.
As soon as she walked out, he stabbed her to death. Mr Sandhu, who Singh believed was having an affair with his wife, wrestled the knife from from Singh and rushed over to Ms Rani, who was bleeding to death from a wound that had severed an artery, a vein and her airway.
As he tried to help the woman, Singh pulled another knife out and viciously attacked him.
The knife wound punctured his
lung, and had it not been for a bystander jumping in to restrain Singh, Mr Sandhu would likely have been killed.
Ms Rani died at the scene and Singh was charged with murder soon after.
In October, Singh pleaded guilty and also admitted a charge of attempting to murder Mr Sandhu. He was jailed for life with a minimum of 13 years before the chance of parole.
Stop-go murder, arrest made 31,451 readers
Two years ago, George Taiaroa was fatally shot while working as a traffic controller at road works north of Taupo.
Soon after, police identified a suspect, but it would take two years of methodical police work to make the arrest.
That day finally came last month, when 45-year-old Quinton Winders was charged with murder.
After the arrest, Detective Superintendent Tim Anderson said the passing of time had not lowered the resolve of the police to find Mr Taiaroa’s killer.
“It just increases our determination,” he said.
“The professionalism and commitment of the team investigating Mr Taiaroa’s death has not wavered for a second, and it is their determination and attention to detail that has got us to this point.”
Mr Taiaroa’s widow Dr Helen Taiaroa spoke to the
Herald a year after his death. “He was so proud of his children. He ensured they got a decent education so they can better themselves. He knew what it was like to work physically hard and there is a better way in life to do things,” she said.
The 67-year-old loved his job, Dr Taiaroa said.
“He loved the financial independence — there was more fishing gear to buy, more overseas trips to plan. He said . . . ‘If anything happens to me I’m going to die happy because I’ve done a lot of things in my life’.”
Winders was publicly named by police as a person of interest soon after the murder. He had previously publicly denied being involved.