Helen Gregory’s death in January last year surprised neighbours in the quiet suburban Khandallah street where she lived alone.
After initially describing the death as unexplained, police upgraded their investigation to a homicide after a post-mortem revealed Gregory had died from a "violent act".
Neighbours described her as a keen gardener, and a quiet woman who kept to herself.
One neighbour said Gregory’s only visitors were her daughter or, as she got older, her gardener.
As part of their investigations, police extended their search to a Porirua landfill, where they believed items of interest had been disposed of several hours after Gregory died.
The following month in February, Gregory’s daughter Julia DeLuney was arrested and charged with her murder.
DeLuney denies the charge and is standing trial at the High Court in Wellington.
The Crown says this was a brutal murder of an elderly woman by her daughter.
The Crown’s case is that after deceiving Gregory into paying her $15,000 in the days before the alleged killing, DeLuney went to her mother’s house on Baroda St and attacked her with "significant, and ultimately fatal, force".
It says DeLuney had traded cryptocurrencies for seven years.
The Crown alleges on the night of the murder, DeLuney’s husband Antonio called his wife asking when she would be home.
After that call, the Crown says DeLuney left her mother’s house and drove home, before the couple returned to Baroda St. Confronted by the scene, Antonio called 111 and performed CPR until ambulance staff arrived and took over.
The trial before Justice Peter Churchman is expected to take five weeks. Proceedings will begin this morning with the selection of a jury.
- Catherine Hutton, Open Justice reporter
