Global InformationLundy murders information
Christine Marie Lundy, 38, and her 7-year-old daughter Amber Grace Lundy were murdered in Palmerston North, New Zealand, on 29 or 30 August 2000. In February 2001, after a six month investigation, Christine's husband and Amber's father, Mark Edward Lundy (then aged 43), was arrested and charged,[1] and in 2002, he was convicted of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.
Mobile phone data proved that Lundy was in Petone at 5:30 pm and 8:28 pm that night.[2] He was also confirmed as being in his motel in Petone between 11:30 pm and 1:00 am by a sex worker.[3] At his first trial, the prosecution claimed Lundy left Petone immediately after the 5:30 phone call, drove 134 kilometres (83 mi) to Palmerston North, killed his wife and daughter at about 7:00 pm, disposed of his bloody clothes and the murder weapon, altered the timing on the family computer to suggest they were still alive at 7:00 pm, was seen running down the street wearing a blond wig and drove the same 134 kilometres back to Petone by 8:28 pm.[4] Lundy's defence maintained that travelling to Palmerston North and back in three hours was implausible.
In 2002, following his conviction, Lundy took his case to the New Zealand Court of Appeal; the court rejected his appeal and increased his non-parole period to 20 years.[5] In 2013, on appeal to the Privy Council in Britain, the convictions were quashed because of exculpatory evidence that had been withheld at the first trial, and a re-trial was ordered.[6][7]
At the retrial in 2015, the police accepted that Lundy could not have made the round trip between Petone and Palmerston North between 5:30 pm and 8:28 pm, and presented an entirely different version of events. They now claimed that he travelled back to Palmerston North in the middle of the night after spending time with a sex worker in Petone. At both trials, contentious evidence was presented that specks of matter found on Lundy's shirt came from Christine's brain tissue.[8] In April 2015, he was found guilty again.[9]
Lundy has continued to claim he is innocent, and in 2017, took his second conviction to the Court of Appeal. On 9 October 2018 the court dismissed the appeal.[10] In 2022, following an application, the new Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) agreed to investigate his case.[11][8] As of 2023[update] the CCRC has yet to return its review. In 2022 and 2023 Lundy appeared before the parole board where he continued to maintain his innocence; the board denied parole, stating Lundy "remain[s] an undue risk".[12]
- ^ "Murder accused owed $2 million". TVNZ. 19 July 2001. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ^ The Queen v Lundy [2002] NZCA 197; (2002) 19 CRNZ 574 (13 August 2002), Court of Appeal. 16 December 2011
- ^ "Lundy with escort agency woman on night of murders". NZ Herald. 18 July 2001. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ The retrial: Four changes to the case, NZ Herald, 2 April 2015
- ^ "Lundy loses appeal, sentence increased". The New Zealand Herald. 13 August 2002. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
- ^ Ellingham, Jimmy; Appleby, Matthew (8 October 2013). "Lundy's sister constant in supporting him". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ^ "Mark Lundy's sister hopeful over appeal bid". ONE News. TVNZ. 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ a b White, Mike (29 August 2020). "The Lundy murders, 20 years on". Stuff. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ "Mark Lundy guilty of murder after retrial". Stuff.co.nz. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ "Mark Lundy's appeal fails over infamous double murders". Herald.co.nz. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
- ^ Sumner, Bonnie (19 August 2022). "Why the Lundy case will never go away". Newsroom. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ Ellingham, Jimmy (25 May 2023). "Murderer Mark Lundy's parole bid denied". RNZ. Retrieved 7 December 2023.