• The Crown will not pursue a retrial for Stephen Ralph Stone, whose convictions were quashed in October. 
• It’s been over 25 years since the “Gone Fishing” double-murder trial, which had already been considered a cold case. 
• Stone was released from prison after the Court of Appeal found a miscarriage of justice, but he remained on bail as the Crown mulled a retrial. 

The Crown announced today it will not pursue a retrial for high-profile double-murder defendant Stephen Ralph Stone, six months after the Court of Appeal quashed his 25-year-old jury trial convictions. 

The decision now leaves Stone - who was released from prison in October but remained under bail conditions until a planned 2026 trial - a completely free man for the first time in decades. 

Auckland Crown Solicitor Alysha McClintock confirmed the decision during a brief hearing this morning before Justice Timothy Brewer in the High Court at Auckland. 

She said it is important to note that the case is now about what can be proved with admissible evidence. 

“I have concluded there is no longer sufficient evidence available to the Crown,” she said, pointing out that three of the four major witnesses in the case are no longer available. “Important context to the trial ... would not be available.” 

Stone, now much older, wore a white t-shirt and mumbled, seemingly annoyed, as the prosecutor read aloud the prepared statement. 

“Thank God,” he said as Justice Brewer confirmed that he now has the equivalent of an acquittal. 

“So you are now free to leave the dock,” Brewer said. 

Stone didn’t wait around as other cases were called. He left the courtroom immediately. 

“F*** off!” he yelled at reporters who surrounded him as he left the courthouse a short time later. 

The death of tyre fitter Deane Fuller-Sandys - a 21-year-old initially presumed to have drowned while fishing along Auckland’s west coast in 1989 - was already considered a cold case when jurors in the High Court at Auckland found Stone guilty of murder in 1999. 

Stephen Stone was found guilty in 1999 of the 1989 murders of Dean Fuller-Sandys and Leah Stephens (inset), but 25 years later the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial. Photo / Russell Smith 

It was at the time dubbed the “Gone Fishing” case by the media. 

Stone was found guilty at the same trial of having raped and murdered witness Leah Stephens five days after the first killing. 

The bouncer and Black Power gang member was later ordered to serve two concurrent life sentences for the murder convictions and 10 years’ imprisonment for the rape charge. 

Co-defendant Gail Maney, twice found guilty of Fuller-Sandys’ murder, was fully acquitted as a result of last year’s Court of Appeal decision after prosecutors acknowledged a miscarriage of justice had occurred. But Stone was granted only a retrial for reasons that were at the time suppressed. 

Mark Henriksen and Colin Maney - Gail Maney’s brother - were acquitted by the same appellate panel of being accessories to Fuller-Sandys’ murder. 

Stephen Stone before he was convicted of the murders of Dean Fuller-Sandys and Leah Stephens. 

Prosecutors had alleged during the previous trials that Gail Maney ordered Stone to kill Fuller-Sandys because he had stolen drugs, money and leather goods from her. 

After Fuller-Sandys stopped by the flat on his way to a fishing trip, it was alleged, he was confronted and shot in the garage in front of numerous witnesses. Prosecutors said the gun was passed around and others were encouraged to shoot him. 

Fuller-Sandys’ body was then buried at Woodhill Forest before his car was dumped at the fishing spot in Whatipu, they alleged. 

It was alleged Stone then targeted Stephens because she was present at the first killing and he feared she would talk. Her body wouldn’t be discovered until three years later, buried near the Muriwai Golf Club. 

Gail Maney and her brother Colin Maney arrive at the Court of Appeal in Wellington in August 2024 for their hearing over their convictions connected to the murder of Deane Fuller-Sandys. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

In the decision released last year, the Court of Appeal noted that two of the four witnesses who said they were present during the first shooting have since recanted. 

It was also noted that a detective had incorrectly told the court during previous trials that no witnesses had been shown statements by any other witness. That contributed to a miscarriage of justice along with the detective’s failure to disclose his communications with a lawyer representing one of the witnesses. 

The detective, Mark Franklin, would later be sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment for selling cannabis after quitting the force and moving to Rarotonga. 

Gail Maney has repeatedly insisted over the years that she never met Fuller-Sandys and that she didn’t meet Stone until after Fuller-Sandys vanished. She told NZME in October that she was relieved her conviction had finally been quashed but was confused as to why a retrial was ordered for Stone. 

“Basically none of this happened, we’re all innocent people and to me, it doesn’t make any sense,” she explained. “He doesn’t deserve to be there [in jail] any more than me.” 

Prosecutors had initially indicated they would announce in December whether they intended to retry Stone or drop the charges. Time was needed, in part, to explore the possibility of further DNA testing. But extensions were sought ahead of the December hearing and again in March. 

The DNA testing did not return any substantial findings, the Crown acknowledged today. 

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.