For years, baby killer Lise Turner hid in plain sight — shielded by medical uncertainty, misplaced trust and the tragedy of so‑called cot death. Her crimes ended only after the death of 8‑month‑old Michael Tinnion exposed a fatal pattern authorities had missed.

Turner was then convicted of murdering three babies, including her two newborn daughters, and trying to end the lives of three other infants.

Now, more than four decades on, Michael’s mother, Lauree Ashworth, is confronting the day her baby died – and the truth that emerged from it.

Senior journalist Anna Leask reports.

Lauree Ashworth and her baby Michael. He was murdered by Lise Turner in 1984.

Lauree Ashworth remembers every minute of the day her son was murdered.

When she left her Christchurch house, her happy, healthy baby boy was tucked up in his bed, his sheets tight around him and his breaths deep and steady.

When she returned, there was no more breath – no more life left in his tiny body.

As she sat watching tragedy unfold in what was, hours before, the happiest of homes, she was comforted by Lise Turner, her so-called friend and trusted babysitter.

Little did she know, Turner was a killer. And Michael was not her first victim.

“It amazes me just how accurate everything is in my mind, how much detail I can recall – so it’s always there. I live with it every single day,” Lauree told the Herald.

“I’ve always said that I can talk about my whole experience like a documentary, but when ... people ask me questions, that makes me stop and think, and that’s when I feel the emotion … which I’ve always usually tried to avoid.

“I don’t even think my other children – who are all adults now – have ever really known what we went through.

“I’ve never really talked about what we actually went through … I don’t think you can really explain the magnitude of what happened.”

Michael Clark Tinnion was born in September 1983. He was the third son for Lauree and her first with her then-partner, Kelvin.

Michael was a beautiful little boy. His big dark eyes were framed with long, fluffy lashes, and rosy cheeks punctuated his always-smiling little face.

He was a much-loved son and baby brother.

And then, soon after a deeply troubled and dangerous woman got an opportunity to be alone with him, he was gone.

The life and lies of Lise Turner

Turner was born Lise Dwan, the younger daughter of June and Patrick Dwan. Her sister was about 13 when she was born.

Born in Upper Hutt, Turner moved with her family to Levin when she was 4, and then to Christchurch a year later.

She attended Fendalton Primary School, Heaton Intermediate and Burnside High School. Her final year in education was spent at a “special” school in Salisbury near Nelson.

Lise Turner was convicted of murdering three babies including her own two daughters, and attempting to murder three others. Photo / 60 Minutes

From an early age, there were concerns about Lise. Before she started high school, she spent four years under the care of child psychologists for issues including “drawing attention to herself” and “general misbehaviour”.

At 16, she left school and went to work for her godfather until he died nine months later.

After that, those close to Lise said she only had odd jobs and was “very unsettled in life”.

In 1973, she was in a relationship with James “Jimmy” Lewis. She left him about six months before he and his brother murdered an elderly woman, Phyllis Reidy, in her Christchurch home in April 1974.

When she was 21, she married Aiden Duckworth. Six months later, that relationship ended. Duckworth was later jailed in Australia for fraud.

In April 1978, she met Godfrey Turner, a superintendent for the Ministry of Energy.

The couple lived together in various locations around the country, including Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington and Twizel.

They never married, but Turner legally changed her name to match her partner.

In October 1979, they welcomed their first daughter, Megan Jennifer.

Just three months later, while Godfrey was at work, Turner rushed the baby girl to the Twizel doctor’s surgery, claiming she was having trouble breathing. She could not be resuscitated.

Megan Turner was murdered by her mother, Lise Turner. Her father, Godfrey, later posted this photo on a remembrance website.

Godfrey later revealed in court that he had been called home from work by a “fairly hysterical” Turner on several other occasions because Megan had “stopped breathing”.

He said he would take Megan and give her mouth-to-mouth, and she recovered. There were never any issues with the infant when he was at home.

A pathologist ruled the tragedy a “cot death of undiagnosed natural cause”.

After Megan died, Turner spent six weeks in a psychiatric ward in Christchurch. Godfrey then arranged a work transfer to Auckland, and the couple moved.

But Turner was still unwell and was admitted to Carrington Hospital – then a psychiatric facility in Pt Chevalier.

In 1981, she became pregnant again, and the couple relocated to Tuai, between Napier and Gisborne.

Their second daughter, Cheney Louise, was born on January 31, 1982.

She was a healthy baby, and there were no issues with her breathing.

The grave of Lise Turner's two baby girls, murdered by their mother.

On March 15, Godfrey came home from work for lunch and said Cheney seemed “perfectly normal”.

But that afternoon, he received a panicked call from one of Turner’s friends telling him to come home immediately.

When he arrived, 44-day-old Cheney was lying lifeless on the kitchen table with blood and vomit around her mouth.

Her death was also put down to cot death – now known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which refers to cases where, after investigation, no cause of death is found.

In 1983, Turner left Godfrey. He was having an affair with the wife of a work colleague, whom he and Turner had moved to live with in Napier.

He told Turner he did not want to marry her, and she returned to Christchurch.

In March 1984, she moved into a flat with her new partner, Richard “Dick” Ashley, on Hereford St, next to Lauree and Kelvin.

On May 28, she murdered their 8-month-old son.

The babysitter

“How we got to know her was, she kept coming over to use our phone because they didn’t have the phone on,” Lauree recalled.

“She was very dependent on her parents – they used to come and pick her up and take her shopping. So, she was always coming over to ring her mum.

“She used to tell me about her two daughters who had died of cot deaths … and she used to show me photos of them and talk about them all the time.

“She said she was part of the cot death committee representing the South Island and that she was registered with the Department of Social Welfare as a babysitter, which was her occupation.”

Michael Tinnion, the murdered son of Lauree and Kelvin, had two older brothers.

The day Michael died, Lauree had to pop into the city to do an errand. Her oldest son, Jeremy, was at school, and ordinarily she would have just taken baby Michael and her middle child, Chris.

But she said Turner was “quite insistent” on looking after them.

“Her parents had been there that morning, and her mother had said to me, ‘Are you sure that you want Lise to look after the kids, do you think you could take them with you?’” Lauree said.

“I remember thinking that was a really strange comment.”

Lauree put Michael to bed and headed off to town. Within 40 minutes, she was home – and knew something was amiss straight away.

“I walked in, and she was flustering around, busy at the sink. She was quite shocked to see me,” she said.

“Chris was hiding under the kitchen table ... and I thought that was really unusual as well.

“The first thing she said was, ‘You better go and check to see if Michael’s okay’. And I said, ‘I’m not going to do that because it’s just going to wake him up’, and I remember thinking obviously she had already been in there because the window was open and I had left it closed.”

Lauree said Turner got “huffy” and “stormed down the hallway” to check the baby herself.

Then, all hell broke loose. Michael was not breathing. There was blood on his pillow.

Lauree panicked and called 111.

Michael Tinnion was the third baby Lise Turner suffocated to death.

“The ambulance arrived, and the paramedics were in with Michael – so I didn’t think anything was untoward,” she said.

“I was only 20 years old. I was just a kid myself, really, and never experienced anything like this before … I didn’t think he was going to die, or that he had died.

“I remember one of the ambulance men came out and asked me who my GP was, and they rang him. I thought it was a good thing they’d called the doctor in … but I didn’t realise it was to pronounce that Michael died.”

Turner was with Lauree when the doctor broke the terrible news.

“He told me that Michael would pass, and at the same time, Lise was saying, ‘Oh, I know you, you’re my mother’s doctor,’ and was trying to be really chatty and friendly,” she remembered.

“Lise was on a high. She was so hyped up … she actually talked about having to go to jazzercise that evening to get rid of some of her energy. The doctor actually testified at her trial that he found it really bizarre behaviour.

“A friend of hers arrived to visit while everything was happening, and she said, ‘You’ve come at a really bad time … the baby next door has just died of cot death’.

“Kelvin, who had never, ever liked her, was suspicious straight away. And then when my father arrived, he and my husband talked quite a bit about ‘something’s not right here’ – but I was too captured in my grief.

“Then, the next morning, there was a knock at the door, and there was a whole lot of police standing there.”

Turner’s crimes unravel

Lauree and Kelvin were taken to the police station to make statements.

“They kept saying ‘we can’t be sure – but we’re suspicious’,’ she said.

“They weren’t really telling us that much. And it was so awkward having her right next door. We arranged for the police to interview her at the time of the funeral so that she wouldn’t turn up. We came home to a sympathy card from her.

“Then Kelvin and my parents felt it would be a really good idea if we went to stay with an aunty and uncle and just have some time away. We went, and it was about 10 days later that we got a call from one of the police to say that they charged her.”

Lise Turner during a court appearance in Christchurch. Photo / 60 Minutes

Lauree described the news as “a mix of disbelief, but also relief”.

“I did not believe that Michael died of cot death – I just could not get a grip on that, so it was such a relief to know that there was an answer, but total disbelief in how it all happened,” she explained.

“I just remember not feeling anything, just being really numb.”

Turner appeared in the Christchurch District Court charged with murdering baby Michael by suffocating him.

Lauree said that after the hearing, police revealed they also suspected Turner had killed her two daughters.

“We were pretty much told straight away … that there may be others that were involved,” she said.

“They started telling us about other near deaths … that this could have been going on for quite some time. And then things started getting bigger.”

In August 1984, police charged Turner with murdering Megan and Cheney by deliberate suffocation.

She was also charged with the attempted murder of three other babies.

Three days before she gave birth to Cheney, Turner had attempted to kill the 8-month-old daughter of Godfrey’s colleague.

Turner was looking after the baby while her mother went to the doctor. She called an ambulance, claiming that when she went to check on the baby, she was bleeding from the nose and struggling to breathe.

When the baby arrived at the hospital, she was described as “alert and bright”, and doctors could find nothing wrong with her.

She was never left alone with Turner again and never had any further breathing issues.

Coverage of Turner's trial in The Press in 1984.

In October 1982, Turner targeted the 4-month-old daughter of the couple she and Godfrey were living with in Napier.

The first incident happened when the baby’s mother, who was having an affair with Godfrey, went shopping.

She was only gone for 15 minutes. When she checked on the baby, she found her bleeding from the mouth and making grunting noises. Her face was covered in blood.

An ambulance was called, and the baby was rushed to hospital. Doctors could not work out what had caused her issues – there were no abnormalities and she recovered quickly.

Over the next six months, the baby suffered several similar attacks. Turner was present every time.

Eventually, a doctor asked to speak to everyone present when the baby fell ill. The court later heard Turner “reacted wildly” and was very reluctant to see the doctor.

She was not left alone with the child after that, and the attacks stopped.

In June 1983, after Turner returned to Christchurch, she was asked to babysit a friend’s 5-week-old daughter.

She asked a male friend to join her and, during the night, checked on the newborn and told him “the baby is sick”.

The man went to check on the baby and found her lying in her cot with vomit on her face. She was pale, cold and clammy.

Lauree Ashworth has tried to keep every story published about her baby and his killer, including this article from when Lise Turner was released from prison on parole. Photo / Anna Leask

When the baby’s parents arrived home, they took her to hospital. Doctors suspected she had pneumonia and she was treated with oxygen, intravenous fluids and antibiotics and made a rapid recovery.

They later ruled pneumonia out. Turner was not left alone with the girl again and she remained completely healthy.

Turner pleaded not guilty to all six charges and went on trial in November 1984.

After hearing evidence for eight days, a jury took just three hours to find Turner guilty on all counts. She reportedly sobbed and howled when the verdicts were read in court.

She was sentenced to life in prison and served 13 years behind bars before she was released on parole.

Turner died in September 2023 from a combination of heart failure, cognitive impairment and epilepsy.

She was 68 and living in a Waikanae retirement home at the time.

Michael: gone but never forgotten

Lauree has never recovered from the death of her son.

“Michael was happy, healthy … he was so placid, you know, a really good baby,” she said.

“I only ever left my children with people I knew and trusted. And I knew and I trusted her. And who would have ever thought that would ever happen in 40 minutes?

“Whenever I think back to Michael, I feel grief and loss … I was always sad, but I had to stay strong, especially for Kelvin. And he was always angry and hurt and in pain.”

Lauree can remember every moment of the day her baby was killed.

“It’s always there, like I live with it every single day.

 
Lauree Ashworth has kept years of clippings and information about her son's death – and his killer. Photo / Anna Leask

Lauree and Kelvin eventually separated, and she has been remarried for more than 22 years.

No matter what has changed in her family, Michael’s memory has never been left behind.

“We talk about Michael as part of the family, his photo is always there,” she said.

“Four kids born since him – and they know all about him. He has never, ever been a forgotten part of our life.

“Kelvin and I have been apart for many years, but we’ve still got that connection. He’s the only one that knows what we experienced. He’s the only one that I can share that with, and we talk every birthday, every anniversary.”

In the lead-up to Turner’s parole hearings, Lauree was allowed to write to her in prison.

She sent several letters hoping to get answers about her baby’s death.

In one reply, Turner said she had been seeing a forensic psychiatrist and she had been able to identify why she killed Michael, Megan and Cheney.

She did not elaborate.

“This is something that was never discussed within the trial, and the question ‘why’ has lived with me … I would be grateful if you could share that with me so I can piece together the jigsaw that is within my head and understand more fully why it is that my baby isn’t able to be here as a teenager today,” Lauree wrote.

Michael Tinnion was a much-loved son and brother.

Turner never really answered the question.

“I’ve heard every excuse under the sun from her,” Lauree said.

“She said at some point she was jealous of Michael … In her [trial] testimony, she said she stubbed her toe or something like that, and that triggered everything.

“I don’t believe that. She had it all set up. Why did she ring the friend and say, come over at this specific time? You know, it was so planned. Why was her mother worried about her, you know, her looking after him? Yeah. It was, yes. Why was she so insistent that I leave Chris and Michael at home?”

Lauree and Kelvin were also allowed to visit Turner in prison before she was released.

“We were allowed to ask her anything we wanted,” Lauree said.

“I wanted to know the nitty-gritty things like, did you have that plan that day?

“That was a significant day for me. Before that, she’d always held the power in my memories and in my life. But that day I felt a shift – a shift that we were the ones in power and she was not.

“I’ve heard lots of victims talk about how they found this inner peace and all of that when they were able to forgive, that’s bullsh*t. You can never, ever forgive.

“I think what helped me was when I learned to accept that it happened. And that’s a lot different to forgiveness.”

Turner’s deadly confession

In a newspaper interview after her release, Turner spoke briefly about her offending.

“I loved my babies. It was a terrible tragedy,” she said.

“It wasn’t me then … it wasn’t.”

In court, a detailed statement Turner gave police was read, in which she confessed to smothering Michael with a pillow after experiencing “flashbacks” about Megan and Cheney.

She claimed that as a teenager she “got involved in drugs and bad company”, worked as a prostitute and attempted suicide three times.

She also told police she had suffered several miscarriages and was the victim of domestic violence.

“I took LSD pills and morphine and got a drug habit,” she said.

“I had a gutsful of life, and that is why I came back to Christchurch to live.”

Michael Tinnion was a happy and healthy baby boy.

She told police about Megan’s birth – a difficult 24-hour labour and caesarean section.

“It was good and I was very happy to have a child at last. I had had 12 pregnancies without a child and finally I had one, she said.

“When she died ... I had a complete mental breakdown. It was diagnosed as a cot death, and I was admitted to hospital for depression.”

When Cheney was born, Turner said she “had a drinking problem and went through depression”.

“But not as severely as when Megan died. Six weeks after Cheney was born, she died, and it was later put down to a cot death. I was in shock at her death, but it was not as bad as I had been with Megan,” her statement said.

Turner revealed she had a hysterectomy soon after leaving Godfrey and returning to Christchurch. She was also back under the care of a psychologist due to her upset over the breakup.

“l do not recall at any stage hurting any of the children I have talked about. I have smacked or have been given permission to smack children whom I babysat for – but have never hurt the babies.

“I love children, especially babies.”

She said she “realised” that “five” children in her care – her daughters and the three little girls she was convicted of attempting to murder – “had problems”.

“I have no explanation to make about these incidents,” she told police.

Michael Tinnion was a beautiful little boy who was always smiling.

She said she loved her daughters and denied deliberately ending their lives.

When the detective interviewing her encouraged her to “come to grips” with her actions and “clear her conscience”, she broke down crying and confessed to Michael’s murder.

“I did it,” she said.

“I killed Michael by putting the pillow over his face. I don’t know why I did it.

“I wasn’t feeling right. I cannot point out how I felt in my own words. I got some flashbacks – flashbacks of my own kids and was feeling depressed. I was thinking of them when they were alive. I kept seeing my daughter, Megan, in her coffin.

“I was sitting on Lauree’s bed crying and something happened. I think I bumped my knee or something and got angry. Something triggered me off. The next thing I found myself in Michael’s room.

“I can remember picking up Michael’s pillow. He was half lying on it. Then I just put it across his face. Different things were going through my mind – thoughts of my own babies and the breakup with Godfrey.

“I don’t know how long I held the pillow on his face. Michael was lying on his back. I can’t remember him moving when I was doing it.”

She said that as she held the pillow on the baby’s face, she was thinking, “Why should they have kids?”

Turner’s case will also feature in an upcoming episode of the Herald podcast A Moment In Crime.

Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz