Life for murder of cousin, lover
A man who killed his estranged partner by shooting her in the head at point-blank range will spend at least 12 years in prison.
O¯ torohanga man Flint Wallace, 57, was sentenced to life imprisonment at the High Court in Hamilton yesterday.
He earlier pleaded guilty to a single charge of murder.
Wallace and his victim, Leigh Kouhue Wallace, 50, had been in a relationship since 2014.
The relationship was a volatile one with the pair – who were first cousins – often separating for short periods of time and living in separate townships.
At the time of Leigh Wallace’s death on August 31 this year she was living with other family in Whakata¯ ne while he remained in their home in O¯ torohanga.
Supported by her sister and grandmother in court, Leigh Wallace’s daughter Briar Rose Wallace said their lives had changed forever.
‘‘She had been asked to help the person who would later put a gun to her head.
‘‘She did because that’s the type of person she was.
‘‘She paid for this decision with her life. ‘‘You made her life miserable for years. [You tried to create] distance between us and our mother to have total control.
‘‘But you know what, you lost because she chose us ... she left you.
‘‘She was away from you and she was happy.
‘‘We had to bury her a day later than we should have because we didn’t want to bury her on her birthday.
‘‘You have no idea how we have struggled since that day.’’
Leigh Wallace’s 11-year-old son was now living with his grandmother.
And the eldest of her four grandchildren still asks after his nan. He often sits and waits for her car to come up the driveway.
On the day Leigh Wallace died, she travelled to Te Ku¯ iti with a family member to attend the counselling session with Wallace at his request.
After the session ended, the pair left together in her Nissan ute.
What precisely transpired in the hours afterward is known only by them.
At some time between 5.30pm and 6.45pm, Leigh Wallace was sitting in the passenger seat when Wallace, who was near the driver’s side of the vehicle, pointed a .22 rifle to the rear of the right side of her head and fired.
The bullet entered the right side of the back of her head, killing her.
Wallace called a family member, telling them to come to the house, and that he had done something stupid.
He then turned the rifle on himself, firing a single shot up under his chin and into his head.
When family arrived, Wallace was still alive.
He was unable to speak to the police due to his injury, however when asked if he had shot his partner, he nodded his head.
In her summing up, Justice Patricia Courtney said Wallace’s attitudes towards Leigh, and women generally, played a part in that day.
Justice Courtney sentenced Wallace to life imprisonment and considered a starting point of 13 years non-parole as appropriate.
She gave him credit for an early guilty plea and personal circumstances, specifically his ill health.
Wallace has a bullet lodged in his neck and a spinal cord injury and nerve-related pain.
Her final sentence was life imprisonment with minimum non-parole period of 12 years behind bars.