Partner in dock as Waikato woman buried
When Waikato woman Kim Louise Richmond was buried on June 20, her partner of 26 years – Cory Scott Jefferies – did not attend her funeral.
It can now be revealed that was because he was the person standing in the dock of Hamilton District Court, charged with her murder.
At a subsequent appearance yesterday, his interim name suppression lapsed and Jefferies was revealed as the person accused of Richmond’s death.
Jefferies was arrested days after Richmond’s body was discovered in her Ford Ranger once it was pulled from Lake Arapuni in the South Waikato – nearly a year after she went missing.
At yesterday’s hearing, his lawyer, Thomas Sutcliffe, pleaded not guilty on behalf of his client, who appealed via video link.
Family and supporters of Jefferies and Richmond sat in the court’s public gallery.
High Court Justice Sarah Katz remanded Jefferies until his next appearance in October, when it is expected a trial date will be set.
Jefferies has applied for bail, with his case due to be heard in two weeks’ time.
Police said that Richmond, a mother-of-three, was last seen at her Arohena home, near Te Awamutu, early on July 31, 2016.
There were no reported sightings of her since her disappearance. Her bank accounts and phone went untouched.
Jefferies and Richmond’s rural home was a 20-minute drive to the Arapuni Landing – a spot popular with boaties in the summer, and where they found Richmond’s body in her submerged ute.
Last year, the police dive squad scoured Arapuni Lake in search of her missing ute. And last month they returned to search yet again.
The Arapuni power station was shut down to allow the dive squad to search the area safely.
Richmond’s ute was located on the second day, six metres below the water. A crane was called in to lift it out.
At the time, Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Patterson said Waikato police officers wanted to cover areas they had not been able to access previously.