STORY: "Mark Lundy murder retrial: Focus on vineyard plans," by reporter Ross Giblin, published by Stuff.com on February 16, 2015.
GIST: "The vineyard investment plans of Mark Lundy were collapsing at the time his wife and child were murdered, a jury has been told. Lundy was months late settling a land purchase of about $1.8 million, the High Court at Wellington was told today. Lundy
was being charged penalty interest for land in Hawke's Bay but had no
money of his own and was not able to attract investors to complete the
purchase, a jury heard......... A
witness whose name was suppressed and whose evidence was read to the
court said he was helping Lundy in the wine venture and they were due to
"pull the plug" at the end of August, 2000, for lack of money. The
statement said he had looked at joining Lundy in the vineyard scheme
but agreed to be a director, buy shares and supply rootstock for the
vines.
Lundy told him he found land in Hawkes Bay for $1.2m and signed a contract to buy it. The witness said he never saw a copy of the contract. Without making the purchase subject to obtaining finance Lundy put himself in the position that he could lose everything, the witness said. About six weeks before the murders he and Lundy discussed "pulling the plug" and how Lundy would be left owing $190,000. The witness said he would not have seen Lundy left in the lurch and proposed selling off grapevine rootstock plants to pay $100,000 of the debt and leaving the sellers of the land to recoup the penalty interest in the sale of the land. Christine Lundy would have been well aware of the debts being incurred, the witness' statement said. He believed she was "all for" the vineyard investment but was concerned that the sale had gone unconditional, he said. He spoke to Lundy the day the bodies were found. He was in shock and "dead from the neck up". After Christine Lundy's murder an insurance policy paid $75,000 to the mortgage, but there was no cash payment, the witness' statement said. When it came time to bury the remains of his family Lundy said he could not face putting them in the ground. The witness said he felt Christine and Amber deserved better than being put in the ground by a stranger and he arranged to go to the interment, and told others about it too. After a while the witness realised the police suspected him of being involved in the murders. He was offered immunity from prosecution. The witness said he told police he did not want immunity and was not involved. Robert McLachlan ran the company that imported and distributed the sinks and taps that the Lundys sold. McLachlan said he always knew the Lundys were undercapitalised when they first became distributors. The Lundys' company debt to their supplier was often around $100,000. After the deaths Lundy said he would use the money he was expecting from the life insurance policy to settle the debt. When that did not happen he was going to try to raise money by using his house as security. By February 2001 the debt to McLachlan's firm was $160,000 and later they called receivers in to the Lundy business. The trial is due to sit a half-day tomorrow, with private legal talks taking place in the afternoon."
Lundy told him he found land in Hawkes Bay for $1.2m and signed a contract to buy it. The witness said he never saw a copy of the contract. Without making the purchase subject to obtaining finance Lundy put himself in the position that he could lose everything, the witness said. About six weeks before the murders he and Lundy discussed "pulling the plug" and how Lundy would be left owing $190,000. The witness said he would not have seen Lundy left in the lurch and proposed selling off grapevine rootstock plants to pay $100,000 of the debt and leaving the sellers of the land to recoup the penalty interest in the sale of the land. Christine Lundy would have been well aware of the debts being incurred, the witness' statement said. He believed she was "all for" the vineyard investment but was concerned that the sale had gone unconditional, he said. He spoke to Lundy the day the bodies were found. He was in shock and "dead from the neck up". After Christine Lundy's murder an insurance policy paid $75,000 to the mortgage, but there was no cash payment, the witness' statement said. When it came time to bury the remains of his family Lundy said he could not face putting them in the ground. The witness said he felt Christine and Amber deserved better than being put in the ground by a stranger and he arranged to go to the interment, and told others about it too. After a while the witness realised the police suspected him of being involved in the murders. He was offered immunity from prosecution. The witness said he told police he did not want immunity and was not involved. Robert McLachlan ran the company that imported and distributed the sinks and taps that the Lundys sold. McLachlan said he always knew the Lundys were undercapitalised when they first became distributors. The Lundys' company debt to their supplier was often around $100,000. After the deaths Lundy said he would use the money he was expecting from the life insurance policy to settle the debt. When that did not happen he was going to try to raise money by using his house as security. By February 2001 the debt to McLachlan's firm was $160,000 and later they called receivers in to the Lundy business. The trial is due to sit a half-day tomorrow, with private legal talks taking place in the afternoon."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/66259690/mark-lundy-murder-retrial-focus-on-vineyard-plans
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
