‘The world’s best liar’ – killer once hurt police officer
A woman who shot dead her partner and then enlisted a friend to bury his body in a forest once dragged a police officer behind her car and badly injured him.
Following the 2007 driving incident, a court was told Sandy Maree Graham’s mother had described her as ‘‘the world’s best liar who always has a plan’’.
Graham, 32, shot her partner Dale Watene during a domestic dispute at her home in Sorn St, Otautau, in April 2020.
She then tried to cover up what she’d done, and, with the help of her best friend, George Hyde, Watene’s body was buried in a shallow grave, deep in Longwood Forest.
Yesterday, after a lengthy trial, Graham was found guilty of murder. Hyde, 25, was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter.
The verdict, in Hyde’s case, meant the jury was unable to establish beyond reasonable doubt that he knew Graham had murdered Watene when he helped conceal his body.
The pair will be sentenced in the High Court at Invercargill on November 8.
Before killing Watene, Graham had amassed several convictions, mainly for lower-level alcohol-fuelled offending.
She had stolen garden gnomes from the elderly and smashed a car window. However, the most serious black mark against her name related to an incident in 2007 when she ended up with the first of four drink-driving convictions.
Graham had been pulled over by a police officer in Wanaka. The then18-year-old began revving the engine of her vehicle while it was in gear. The police officer worried she was going to flee. As he tried to remove the keys from the ignition, she took off.
The officer became trapped in the window of the car. He pulled his upper body into the car and held onto Graham and the window frame. The car crossed the road, mounted the kerb, crashed into a safety fence and then smashed into a building. The officer suffered extensive injuries, including a broken leg and crushed feet.
In sentencing Graham in March 2008, the judge noted comments from her mother describing her as ‘‘the world’s best liar who always has a plan’’.
‘‘It seems to me that your plan on this occasion was to get out of the situation, to get out of there. In doing so you have no concern about the fact that you might injure the officer who had approached you.
‘‘What you did was ... very bad. You behaved immaturely, selfishly, stupidly. You were thinking about number one.
‘‘You need to wise up, you need to lose your attitude, or you are going to end up behind bars.’’
Graham was convicted of dangerous driving causing injury, drink-driving and failing to stop for police.
She was sentenced to 300 hours’ community work and disqualified from driving for 14 months. Less than a fortnight later, Graham was back behind the wheel, and was caught overtaking a car at 170kph.
She was convicted of dangerous driving, and driving while disqualified, and jailed for two months.
The sentencing judge said he believed Graham – whose parents separated when she was about 10 – had led ‘‘somewhat of a tragic life’’.
‘‘Notwithstanding what your parents say, I feel that some of the responsibility for your behaviours has to be shot home to them. It seems that very early in your adolescence and teenage years you had been left to your own devices, which has meant that you have had problems with boundaries and structure in your life.
‘‘You have led somewhat of a chaotic lifestyle which has ended up in you acting impulsively, making poor decisions and having minimal insight into your behaviours.’’
Graham was caught drink-driving for the fourth time in June 2019. In the car were three children, including her son and daughter. She was on her learner licence with a zero alcohol condition. A police officer signalled for her to stop, but it was 2 kilometres up the road before she pulled over.
Graham’s explanation for failing to stop was: ‘‘I didn’t see you as I was sorting out the kids with their McDonald’s, nor did I hear you as I had the radio turned up.’’
Despite saying she’d had half a glass of rum, she was well over the limit.
The judge noted Graham had selfreferred to an alcohol counsellor. She was sentenced to four months’ home detention and disqualified from driving for nearly two years. ‘‘It is time you came to grips with your demons,’’ the judge said.