Guilty verdict in gruesome murder case
Victim’s supporters embrace after jury’s finding delivered
Two years after Denver Chance was gunned down at a drug dealer’s house and found dead in a chest freezer, his killer has been found guilty of murder.
Jay Christopher Lingman denied murdering Chance, 43, a Mairangi Bay businessman who sold motorbike gear and sets of block-stacking game Giant Jenga.
The defence claimed Chance was a cocaine supplier who frequently visited South America, had dangerous connections, and confronted Lingman with a shotgun.
But the Crown said Lingman’s story was a ridiculous, self-serving concoction aimed at helping him get away with murder.
The jury retired shortly after 11am on Monday and returned the guilty verdict after about 24 hours.
Some of Chance’s family and friends were in court, along with police who worked on the case. Supporters in the front row of the public gallery embraced and one man yelled “Yes!” after Lingman was found guilty.
The trial heard from several of Chance’s friends, who said any involvement he might have had in the drug trade was hidden from them.
When the trial started, Lingman admitted several drug possession charges but denied murder.
Justice Melanie Harland convicted Lingman of murder after the jurors announced their verdict. Lingman was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on June 11.
Justice Harland asked for a presentence report and for details of Lingman’s previous convictions to be provided.
“I’m very interested to know . . . what has led you to this position today.”
Defence counsel Ron Mansfield said both Lingman and Chance led “encrypted lives” in the clandestine world of cocaine dealing.
Prosecutor Gareth Kayes suggested Chance was never armed, and had arranged to meet Lingman on Sunday, February 24, 2019, before Lingman killed him for drugs.
Chance lived in Mairangi Bay on Auckland’s North Shore and disappeared in February 2019. He was 43.