Larnoch Road Murders

The Larnoch Road murders were a high-profile double-murder case in Auckland, New Zealand. In 1999, Stephen Stone and Gail Maney were convicted of the 1989 murder of Deane Fuller-Sandys over a drug-related dispute. Stone was also convicted of the rape and murder of Leah Stephens, a witness to the killing of Fuller-Sandys. Two other men were also convicted of being accessories to the murder of Fuller-Sandys by disposing of his body.[1][2]

The case is unusual in New Zealand legal history because of the decade-long gap between the crime and the conviction, the securing of a conviction despite a lack of forensic evidence, and the legal immunity granted to key witnesses.[3][4]

Disappearance of victims

On 21 August 1989, Deane Wade Fuller-Sandys, a 21-year-old Auckland tyre-fitter, went missing. His body was never found. Authorities initially believed he might have drowned after being swept out to sea while fishing at West Auckland's Whatipu Beach, where his car was discovered shortly afterwards.[5] Five days later, on 26 August 1989, Leah Romany Stephens, a 20-year old Auckland sex worker, also disappeared. Her skeletal remains were discovered in a forest near the Muriwai Golf Course three years later, in June 1992. Police enquiries at the time did not lead to an arrest.[2]

Police investigation

In early 1997, Auckland police began to receive information that the disappearances of Deane Fuller-Sandys and Leah Stephens (by then a cold case)[6] were connected. Gail Denise Maney (born c. 1967), a sex worker, and her friend Stephen Ralph Stone (born 1969), a nightclub bouncer with gang affiliations, were arrested and charged with having murdered Fuller-Sandys at Maney's then-home in Larnoch Road in the West Auckland suburb of Henderson. Stone was also charged with raping and murdering Stephens at the same house. Gail Maney's younger brother, Colin Neil Maney (born c. 1971), and a mutual acquaintance, Mark William Henriksen (born c. 1967),[7] were charged with being accessories to the murder of Fuller-Sandys.[8] All four denied the charges.[5]

Trial

The trial ran from 1–26 March 1999 at Auckland's High Court. Two male and two female witnesses were granted name suppression and immunity from prosecution in exchange for their trial testimony.[4] The court heard that in August 1989, Gail Maney had ordered the killing of Deane Fuller-Sandys because she believed he had stolen drugs from her rented house at 22 Larnoch Road. On 21 August 1989, Fuller-Sandys was lured by one of the female witnesses to the garage of 22 Larnoch Road, where Stone used a handgun to shoot him in front of at least eight witnesses, among whom was Leah Stephens.[9] Stone passed the gun to each of the four male witnesses, including Colin Maney and Henriksen, and directed them to fire bullets into the body to make them complicit in the murder. The men disposed of Fuller-Sandys' body in Woodhill Forest (although subsequent police searches failed to discover his remains),[10] and left his vehicle at Whatipu Beach to make it appear he had drowned there.[11] Five days later, Stone, believing that Leah Stephens was likely to inform police of the murder of Fuller-Sandys, raped and then murdered her with a knife at 22 Larnoch Road. The two male witnesses with immunity said they had disposed of Stephens' body at Muriwai.[12]

After two days' deliberation, the jury found Stone and Gail Maney guilty of the murder of Fuller-Sandys.[10] Colin Maney and Mark Henriksen were convicted of being accessories to the murder of Fuller-Sandys by helping to dispose of his body. Stone was also convicted of the rape and murder of Stephens. He and Gail Maney were both sentenced to life imprisonment. Stone also received a 10-year concurrent sentence for the rape of Stephens. Henriksen was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, while Colin Maney (the youngest of the accused) received a two-year suspended sentence.[2][13]

Aftermath

Gail Maney and Mark Henriksen appealed their convictions and were granted a retrial on the grounds that the original trial judge had not adequately summed up the case for their defence to the jury.[14] However, both were again found guilty at their retrial in June 2000.[15] In 2005, Gail Maney filed another appeal after one of the key female witnesses recanted her original trial testimony implicating Maney, but this appeal was also rejected.[16] She was paroled in 2010, but was twice recalled to prison for breaches of her parole conditions.[17] She continues to maintain her innocence.[18]

Although Stephen Stone admitted to the killing of Fuller-Sandys during a restorative justice meeting with Fuller-Sandys' family in 2010,[14] he subsequently recanted this confession and reverted to his claims of innocence.[19] Stone was declined parole in December 2017, and will not be eligible for parole again until November 2019.[20]

In 2018, Radio New Zealand released a podcast documentary about the case, Gone Fishing. Subjects interviewed included Gail Maney, some of the key witnesses, and the former detective who led the police investigation, Mark Franklin.[21] Franklin's reputation had been damaged after he was jailed for twelve months in the Cook Islands for selling cannabis to an undercover police officer there in 2010.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Williams, Tony (2000). A Case of Murder: Bizarre and Unsolved Murders in New Zealand. Auckland, N.Z.: Hodder Moa Beckett. ISBN 9781869588083.
  2. 1 2 3 "The H Files: Burglary in Henderson, West Auckland that triggered a 'sordid and murderous' plan". New Zealand Herald. 24 June 2018.
  3. ↑ Maas, Amy; Dudding, Adam (29 June 2018). "Gone Fishing: the curious case of homicide cop Mark Franklin". Stuff.co.nz.
  4. 1 2 Stickley, Tony; Wall, Tony (30 June 2000). "The face of a ruthless killer". New Zealand Herald.
  5. 1 2 Larkin, Naomi (30 June 2000). "Quest for justice on windswept beach". New Zealand Herald.
  6. 1 2 Wall, Tony (22 September 2013). "Cop used dope for stress". Stuff.co.nz.
  7. ↑ "Witness paid to lie, claims co-accused". New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000.
  8. ↑ "Witness recalls victim's final night". New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000.
  9. ↑ "Accused ordered 'hit' witness tells court". New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000.
  10. 1 2 "Loved ones want return of Uncle Deane's body". New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000.
  11. ↑ "'Hit' accused faces retrial". New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000.
  12. ↑ "Brother's 'words' create drama at murder trial". New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000.
  13. ↑ "Killer won't help family find body". New Zealand Herald. 31 July 2010.
  14. 1 2 Reid, Neil (1 August 2010). "Stone-cold hitman". Stuff.co.nz.
  15. ↑ "Second guilty verdict, life sentence for Maney". New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000.
  16. ↑ Stickley, Tony (22 February 2005). "Witness says she lied at murder hit trials". New Zealand Herald.
  17. ↑ Akoorie, Natalie (4 June 2017). "Woman who ordered killing of Deane Fuller-Sandys back in jail". New Zealand Herald.
  18. ↑ Maas, Amy; Dudding, Adam (25 June 2018). "Gone Fishing: Convicted murderer Gail Maney fights for her innocence". Stuff.co.nz.
  19. ↑ Maas, Amy; Dudding, Adam (28 June 2018). "Convicted killer Stephen Stone protests his innocence". Stuff.co.nz.
  20. ↑ "Double murderer Stephen Stone declined parole after denying offending, positive drug test". Stuff.co.nz. 22 January 2018.
  21. ↑ Simpson, Emily (24 June 2018). "Gone Fishing: A story of murder and mystery in Auckland's wildest west". Stuff.co.nz.
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