In 1954, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme were convicted of one of New Zealand’s most brutal and high-profile murders.
For more on the crime and trial click here.
It was a sunny, crisp Tuesday afternoon in June when the girls attacked Pauline’s mother Honorah on a secluded walkway at Victoria Park on the Port Hills.
With “animal ferocity” they hit her over and over again with a brick inside a stocking. Police would later say the 46-year-old had been “battered to pieces”.
After a controversial trial, the teens were found guilty of murder – a jury rejecting their claims of insanity.
The case made headlines around the world, its infamy elevated in the 90s with the release of Sir Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures.
In 2024 Herald podcast A Moment In Crime covered the case.
Podcast writer and host, senior journalist Anna Leask looked back at the crime — and spoke exclusively to Juliet’s brother Jonathan about the aftermath.
Seventy years on, early in 2024, hoping a journalist would look into his sister’s story and find out if there was any mechanism under New Zealand law to get her conviction retrospectively altered, he approached the Herald.
Juliet, who changed her name to Anne Perry after prison and went on to sell more than 20 million crime novels, died in April 2023.
Only then did Jonathan feel he could speak out about her life — and his strong belief she was never mentally sound.
More from Jonathan about his sister’s life can be found here.
He spoke at length to the Herald for a feature and podcast episode about his family’s dark past.
Jonathan Hulme believed his older sister was insane at the time of the murder.
Jonathan Hulme and his sister Juliet – then known as Anne Perry – having a lunch break together. Photo / Screenshot from Anne Perry Interiors
“She did not regard herself as being psychotic or being mad, but it was pretty clear to me looking at it,” said Jonathan.
“[Juliet] had a major psychotic disorder … that was basically my opinion.”
A Moment in Crime is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released monthly.
The series is hosted by Anna Leask, a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years. If you have a crime or case you would like to hear more about email anna.leask@nzme.co.nz.
Since 2019, A Moment in Crime has produced over 55 episodes, and has been downloaded over 1 million times, with listeners in over 170 countries. It was nominated for Best True Crime Podcast at the 2024 Radio and Podcast Awards.