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A decade of violent death: New Zealand's 158 lost women

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Wed, 29 Dec 2021, 11:05AM
(Photo / AP)
(Photo / AP)

A decade of violent death: New Zealand's 158 lost women

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Wed, 29 Dec 2021, 11:05AM

Christie, Cissy. Joanne. Jasmine. Marie. Blessie. Chozyn. Alicia. Verity. Nicole. Bella. Azalia. Crystal. Michelle. Noelene. Bridget. Gurpreet. 

These are just some of the names of Kiwi women who should still be alive. 

These are just some of the names that made headlines here – and around the world – when their lives were cruelly and violently ended, and mostly at the hands of men. 

But these names are only the tip of the iceberg – highlighting only the worst of the worst cases of abuse, assault, revenge, deadly jealously, vile rage and the entitlement of some men to mete out violence and retribution at will. 

Since January 2011 there have been 695 deaths in New Zealand categorised by police as homicides. 

A homicide is the killing of one person by another. 

In New Zealand charges that can arise from a homicide include murder and manslaughter and the overlapping offences of infanticide and driving offences causing death. 

Data provided to the Herald by the police under the Official Information Act shows that of the homicides in the last decade, 211 of the victims were female. 

Of those, 158 were adults aged 18 and over. 

Twenty-two of the women were killed in driving or transport-related incidents including quad bike and boating incidents. 

The rest died after violent or abusive incidents – and more than half were killed by a partner or family member. 

Four of the women were pregnant when they were beaten or stabbed to death. 

Others were murdered while their horrified children watched on close by. 

Police are called out every four minutes to a domestic violence incident. Photo / Bevan Conley. 

Police charged 20 partners – husbands, boyfriends or girlfriend – and 21 ex or estranged partners with murder or manslaughter. 

Just three women were killed in attacks by random strangers and in each case they were out in broad daylight walking or exercising. 

The list provided by police only includes homicide cases where someone has been charged. 

There are other cases where women have been killed by partners or exes who also died. 

For example, in January 2020 Sherine Nath, 32 was dead found at her Papatoetoe home. 

Her young son was critically injured but survived. 

Her husband Riki Nath, 34, was also found dead and is believed to have been responsible for the fatal incident. 

In 2013 Glenys Stanton and her boyfriend Trevor Waite were shot dead at his South Auckland home. 

Three days their killer John Mowatt – a man Stanton had previously spent time with – took his own life. 

And on March 10 this year police believe Viliami Latu killed the mother of his four children Toakase Finau before ending his own life. 

Police at the scene after Glenys Stanton and Trevor Waite were killed. Photo / NZH 

Latu had a long history of violence towards Finau and when they died was facing a raft of charges including assaulting her and breaching his bail conditions. 

Finau had been granted a protection order against Latu but he ignored it completely – as he had with earlier police safety orders. 

New Zealand has the highest rate of intimate partner violence against women in the OECD. 

However, only about 20 per cent of incidents are ever reported so what we know from data collected by authorities is only a small glimpse into an ever-increasing and extremely serious problem. 

Here, one in three women – 35 per cent – have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime. 

When psychological and/or emotional abuse is included, that figure increases to 55 per cent of women. 

While men can also be the victim of intimate partner violence, the majority of the abuse perpetrated is against women. 

In most of the cases where women were killed someone was put before the courts charged with murder or manslaughter. 

And in most cases, they pleaded guilty or were convicted after a jury trial. 

A few killers were found not guilty of a murder charge by reason of insanity and while they were not criminally culpable there is no question that they were responsible for the death. 

In those cases, the killers were detained indefinitely as special patients to forensic psychiatric units. 

In one case – the death of Auckland woman Cissy Chen – her partner was charged with murder but walked free after a jury found him not guilty. 

Police said they would not reinvestigate Chen's death and were not looking for anyone else in connection with the crime. 

Family or domestic violence is an umbrella term that includes: intimate partner physical and sexual violence, child abuse and neglect, sibling abuse, parental abuse, elder abuse, and violence against disabled people. 

If you or someone you know is being abused in any way – please reach out for help. A list of help services and information can be found at the bottom of this story. 

If you are being harmed, remember, it is never your fault. 

Today the Herald remembers and pays tribute to all of the women killed in New Zealand in violent and murderous incidents in the last decade. 

Decade of death: Our lost women remembered 

These are the details of the women who have died in violent circumstances from January 1 2011 to October 16 2021. 

Names marked with * indicate cases where a protection order, trespass order or bail with non-contact condition were in place at time of the victim's death. 

Some of the women cannot be named at this time due to court ordered suppression. 

2011 

Ranjeeta Sharma, 28 Huntly 
Burned alive by her husband 

Ranjeeta Sharma. Photo / Supplied 

Titiksha Desai, 45 
East Auckland 
Stabbed by her estranged husband 

Sandra Brown, 58 
Tauranga 
Stabbed by her daughter's ex-boyfriend 

Lesley Johnston , 60 
Roxburgh 
Shot by her estranged husband 

Stacey Lake, 23 
Otaki Beach 
Shot by her boyfriend 

Susan Audley, 44 
Tauranga 
Fatal assault at a mental health facility by another patient 

Eman Hurmiz, 41 
Wellington 
Stabbed by her husband 

Bronwyn Sadler, 47 
Christchurch 
Stabbed by her partner 

Lusi Aleni, 41 
Balclutha 
Stabbed by her husband 

Christie Marceau. Photo / Supplied 

*Christie Marceau, 18 
North Shore 
Stabbed by obsessed ex colleague who was on bail for kidnapping, assaulting her 

2012 

Tracy Morris, 46 Christchurch 
Strangled by a male friend 

Lisa Corbett, 37 
Nelson 
Strangled by her former partner 

Sanchia Wilson, 33 
Wanganui 
Fatal overdose administered by her boyfriend 

Rosemary Kurth, 50 
Okoki 
Shot by her partner's teenage grandson 

Sharon Foley, 39 
Richmond 
Stabbed by her abusive estranged partner 

Michelle Lawrence. Photo / Supplied 

*Michelle Lawrence, 41 
Christchurch 
Beaten by jealous on-off partner 

Rae Portman, 33 
South Auckland 
Pregnant woman beaten to death and dumped by drug associates 

Rae Portman. Photo / Supplied 

Woman, name suppressed 
Christchurch 
Stabbed to death by man known to her 

*Robyn Prole, 57 
Tauranga 
Stabbed by her abusive estranged husband 

Robyn Prole. Photo / Supplied 

*Ashlee Edwards, 21 
Whangarei 
Drowned by her abusive former partner 

Ashlee Edwards. Photo / Supplied 

Mary Donnelly, 38 
Upper Hutt 
Strangled by her former neighbour 

Maryann Akuhata, 48 
Gisborne 
Set on fire by her partner 

Anne McCullough. Photo / Supplied 

Anne McCullough, 45 
New Plymouth 
Jogger run down and killed by random man 

 

Cissy Chen. Photo / Supplied 

Bin "Cissy" Chen, 44 
North Shore 
Partner charged with her murder but acquitted after High Court jury trial 

Michelle Hoffman-Tam, 51 
Rotorua 
Stabbed, mutilated by woman she had been seeing casually 

Michelle Hoffman-Tamm. Photo / Ben Fraser 

Amanda Taufale, 33 
Wellington 
Stabbed by her ex-partner who hid in roof and waited to attack 

Alicia McCallion, 23 
South Auckland 
Stabbed by her jealous ex-partner 

Sina Solomona. Photo / Supplied 

Sina Solomona, 22 
Ashburton 
Violated, stabbed by stepbrother 

2013 

Patricia McGrath, 33 Whangarei 
Assaulted by her abusive on-off partner 

Patricia McGrath. Photo / Michael Cunningham 

Robyn Grace, 43 
Blenheim 
Killed with axe by her son 

Nicola Fleming, 38 
Invercargill 
Violated, beaten by her jealous ex-partner 

Carmen Popata 
Pamapuria 
Shot along with her husband by nephew in execution-style killing 

*Gail Bower, 48 
Havelock North 
Stabbed by estranged husband 

Gail Bower. Photo / Supplied 

Barbara Moka, 32 
Omanaia 
Beaten by her ex-partner 

Georgina Manuel, 28 
Kaitaia 
Deliberately run over by her partner 

Georgina Manuel. Photo /Supplied 

June McGowan 
West Auckland 
Stabbed to death by her son 

Mei Fan, 37 
Wellington 
Stabbed by her ex-husband 

Mei Fan. Photo / Supplied 

*Sarwan Lata, 38 
Wellington 
Stabbed by her estranged husband 

Jasmine Cooper, 26 
Te Hana 
Beaten, strangled by her ex-partner 

2014 

Amy Farrall, 24, 
Christchurch 
Raped and killed by new flatmate 

Amy Farrall. Photo / Supplied 

Sidra Malik, 18 
West Auckland 
Stabbed by her father who also killed her mother the day before they planned to leave 

Farhat Malik, 26 
West Auckland 
Stabbed by husband she planned to leave the next day 

Blessie Gotingco. Photo / Supplied 

Blessie Gotingco, 56 
North Shore 
Run down in car, raped, stabbed by man unknown to her 

*Susan Cleveland, 55 
Ashburton 
Shot by man known to her through her work at WINZ 

*Peggy Noble, 67 
Ashburton 
Shot by man known to her through her work at WINZ 

Bimla Wati, 47 
Auckland 
Stabbed by her partner 

Heidi Welman-Scott. Photo / Supplied 

*Heidi Welman-Scott, 41 
North Shore 
Stabbed by her estranged husband 

Sandra Guerin, 55 
Upper Hutt 
Attacked with axe by her son's friend 

Aileen Macdonald, 69 
Napier 
Fatally assaulted by her daughter 

2015 

Ena Lai Dung, 76 Manurewa 
Fatally neglected by her daughter and unrelated housemates 

Ena Lai Dung. Photo / NZME 

Gwendoline Blake, 71 
Stratford 
Beaten, stabbed by her son 

Catherine Stewart, 56 
Kapiti 
Stabbed by a man known to her 

Virginia Ford, 20 
Palmerston North 
Beaten by her partner 

Sherena Williams 
Upper Hutt 
Stabbed by a man at a party 

Katrina Drummond, 47 
Taupo 
Beaten with a claw hammer by her husband 

Katrina Drummond. Photo / Supplied 

Davina Nguyen, 49 
South Auckland 
Stabbed by her boarder 

Parmita Rani, 22 
Auckland 
Stabbed by her partner at her college after she sat an exam 

Parmita Rani. Photo / Supplied 

Vicki Warrington, 48 
Dunedin 
Stabbed at home by a man known to her 

Victoria Foster, 24 
Napier 
Shot by her ex-partner 

Karin Ross, 53 
Dunedin 
Attacked with hammer by a disgruntled employee 

Helen Silverwood, 55 
Wellington 
Stabbed by her son 

2016 

Joanne Pert, 41 Auckland 
Killed by a random man while jogging in broad daylight on a busy street 

Jo Pert. Photo / Supplied 

Cunxiu Tian, 69 
West Auckland 
Violated, beaten by a man who lived over the back fence 

Raewyn Green, 50 
Hamilton 
Fatal assault by her jealous partner 

Tracy-Ann Harris 43 
Nelson 
Smothered by her niece and friend 

Jindarat Prutsiriporn, 50 
Auckland 
Fatally injured after jumping from a car boot during drug/gang kidnapping 

Jindarat Prutsiriporn. Photo / Supplied 

Sharon Comerford, 54 
Seacliff 
Bludgeoned by her neighbour 

Delia Williams, 55 
Wellington 
Run over by her abusive partner 

Gurpreet Kau, 22 
Auckland 
Stabbed by her partner while she was pregnant 

Queenie Karaka, 41 
Atiamuri 
Beaten with iron pole by her partner 

Heidi Pryor, 37 
Wellington 
Stabbed by female friend while out jogging 

Renee Duckmanton, 22 
Christchurch 
Strangled, dumped and set alight by sex work client 

Renee Duckmanton. Photo Supplied 

Ruby Knox, 22 
Blenheim 
Disabled woman killed by mother 

Kim Richmond, 42 
Hamilton 
Violent attack by her jealous husband who tried to cover it up 

Carly Stewart, 36 
West Auckland 
Stabbed at a "pamper party" by female associate 

Linda Edwards, 58 
Auckland 
Strangled, house set on fire by her son 

Marie Harlick 35 
Opotiki 
Brutal beating by her abusive partner 

Marie Harlick. Photo / Supplied 

2017 

Leeanne Hart, 53 North Shore 
Fatal beating by her partner 

Chozyn Koroheke, 22 
South Auckland 
Shot by her abusive partner 

Chozyn Koroheke. Photo / Supplied 

Petra Frank, 58 
Taupo 
Stabbed by her husband 

Verity Barber, 40 
Invercargill 
Shot by her jealous husband who was a police officer 

Alicia Nathan, 32 
Christchurch 
Stabbed at a house party by a woman 

Hayley Williams, 43 
Greymouth 
Shot while her kids were nearby by a man she had earlier accused of an indecent assault 

Arishma Chand, 24 
Manurewa 
Stabbed by her obsessed ex-partner 

2018 

Anastasia Neve, 35 Dunedin 
Beaten and killed along with her partner by associate 

Aroha Kerehoma, 28 
Hamilton 
Beaten by her enraged partner 

Robyn Crawford, 37 
Opotiki 
Stabbed by her late partner's son while she was pregnant 

Ariana Mahu, 37 
Tauranga 
Stabbed at a marae by a male relative 

Nicole Tuxford, 27 
Christchurch 
Raped and killed by a man she life coached. He was a murderer on parole. 

Nicole Tuxford. Photo / Supplied 

Yanyan Meng, 62 
Nelson 
Strangled by husband while the couple were tourists in New Zealand 

Leigh Wallace, 50 
Otorohanga 
Shot by her on-off partner after counselling session 

Lynace Parakuku, 22 
Rotorua 
Beaten by her drunk, jealous partner while she was pregnant 

Keshni Naicker, 28 
Christchurch 
Stabbed by her jealous ex-husband 

Jasmine Wilson, 29 
Whanganui 
Allegedly killed by abusive partner who remains before the courts 

Woman aged 50 
Bay of Plenty 
Domestic violence-related 

Grace Millane, 21 
Auckland 
UK tourist strangled on her birthday by a man she met hours earlier on a Tinder 

Grace Millane. Photo / Supplied 

Xi Wang, 34 
South Auckland 
Stabbed while holding her small child by her ex-husband who drove from Rotorua 

Michelle Hurinui. Photo / Supplied 

Michelle Hurinui, 32 
Matamata 
Beaten to death on Christmas Eve by her partner 

2019 

Miriama Raukawa, 45 Whanganui 
Stabbed by a man in a violent incident 

Noelene Marinovich, 59 
West Auckland 
Strangled, beaten by son with hammer 

Bridget Simmonds, 42 
Whangarei 
Killed, buried by her ex-partner. Her body was not found for more than a year 

Bridget Simmonds. Photo / Supplied 

Edith Roderique, 70 
Raumati Beach 
Killed by her partner at their retirement village 

Ansi Alibava, 25 
Christchurch 
Shot by gunman while praying at her mosque in the Christchurch terror attack 

Husnd Ahmed, 44 
Christchurch 
Shot by gunman while praying at her mosque in the Christchurch terror attack 

Husna Ahmed. Photo / Supplied 

Karam Bibi, 63 
Christchurch 
Shot by gunman while praying at her mosque in the Christchurch terror attack 

Linda Armstrong, 64 
Christchurch 
Shot by gunman while praying at her mosque in the Christchurch terror attack 

Linda Armstrong. Photo / Supplied 

Lorna-Anne Thompson, 41 
Whanganui 
Killed by her partner 

Taylor-Jade Hira, 29 
Hastings 
Man charged with murder 

Police investigate Taylor-Jade Hira's death. Photo / Warren Buckland 

Irina Czibesz, 45 
Kapiti 
Killed by a man she met on online dating site 

Feona McKay Patea, 23 
Whanganui 
Stomped to death by her partner of six months 

Woman, aged 30 
Central 
Domestic violence-related 

Grace Virtue, 90 
Levin 
Home invasion attack by three teenage girls 

Azalia Wilson, 22 
Invercargill 
Beaten by her abusive ex-partner 

Crystal Selwyn, 38 
Hamilton 
Beaten with paving stone by ex-partner in front of their terrified children 

Barbara Quinn, 41 
Greymouth 
Strangled and stabbed by her jealous ex 

Bella Te Pania, 34 
Christchurch 
Strangled by sex work client 

2020 

Meliame Fisi'ihoi, 57 South Auckland 
Mistaken identity shooting, three men before the courts 

Meliame Fisi'ihoi. Photo / Givealittle 

Sam Reid, 33 
Taupo 
Beaten by her abusive partner 

Tania Hadley, 47 
Auckland 
Killed, set alight by her boarder 

*Shirley Reedy, 52 
Te Anau 
Strangled by her abusive husband in a motel 

Shirley Reedy. Photo / Supplied 

Pania Melrose, 57 
Te Toko 
Killed with a hammer by her partner's son 

Binder Kaur, 42 
South Auckland 
Husband charged with murder and before the courts 

Woman, aged 34 
South Auckland 
Family violence-related 

*Chantel Wiki-O'Brien, 23 
South Auckland 
Stabbed, set alight by her boyfriend 

Elizabeth Zhong, 55 
South Auckland 
Former male business partner charged and before the courts 

Ngawai Himiona, 37 
Hamilton 
Man charged with murder 

2021 

Chevana Fox, 29 Napier 
Suffered Huntingtons Disease and killed by her mother 

Elizabeth Bangera, 55 
Auckland 
Killed by a man she knew alongside her husband 

Kaye Harrison, 73 
Wellington 
Man known to her charged with murder and before the courts 

Lena Zhang Harrap, 27 
Auckland 
Killed while walking in park in broad daylight. Random man charged with murder 

Lena Zhang Harrap. Photo / Supplied 

Woman, name suppressed 
Waikato 
Man charged with murder 

Michelle Kaipara, 49 
Kawerau 
Man known to her charged with murder and before the courts 

DO YOU NEED HELP? 

If you're in danger now: 

  • Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours of friends to ring for you.
    • Run outside and head for where there are other people.
    • Scream for help so that your neighbours can hear you. 
    • Take the children with you. 
    • Don't stop to get anything else. 
    • If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay 

Where to go for help or more information: 

  • Shine, free national helpline 9am- 11pm every day - 0508 744 633 www.2shine.org.nz
    • Women's Refuge: Free national crisis line operates 24/7 - 0800 refuge or 0800 733 843 www.womensrefuge.org.nz
    • Shakti: Providing specialist cultural services for African, Asian and middle eastern women and their children. Crisis line 24/7 0800 742 584 
    • It's Not Ok: Information line 0800 456 450 www.areyouok.org.nz 

- by Anna Leask, NZ Herald

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