COMMENTARY: "The Big Read: Inside Mark Lundy's Court of Appeal hearing," by Senior Writer Steve Braunias, published by The New Zealand Herald on October 21, 2017.
SUB-HEADING: "Steve Braunias reports from this week's Court of Appeal hearing on whether there has been a miscarriage of justice in the conviction of Mark Lundy for the murders of his wife and daughter."
GIST: "Why? What's the problem? How come the Lundy killings don't appear to qualify as something unknown, strange, mysterious? Very few people make it public that they actively take his side. There's a guy in Kumeu and a guy in Matamata, who have worked together to prove his innocence, and he's always been able to count on the support of his sister and her husband in Taupo; but Lundy has a brother who apparently detests him so much that he's changed his surname. The murders were atrocious. They were committed in the family home in Palmerston North on August 30, 2000. Lundy was away on business. He checked into the Foreshore Motel in Petone and hired an escort for an hour's entertainment. Police said he drove home sometime after midnight and picked up a sharp weapon from the garage. Christine, his wife, was hit so many times and with such force that her face was no longer a face; Amber, his daughter, killed in her nightie and socks in her parents' doorway, was 7 years old. The killings were actually only fleetingly mentioned at Lundy's three-day Court of Appeal hearing.........It's not the lack of sympathy and widespread perception of Lundy as a so-and-so that has denied his case the status of mystery. It's the perceived lack of evidence pointing away from him and to someone else. If not David Bain, then Robin Bain; if not Pora, then Malcolm Rewa. If not Lundy, then who? The police investigation into the killings drew up a list of 82 people of interest. None of them emerged as credible suspects. But small and possibly crucial pieces of hard forensic evidence were introduced at both trials which pointed away from Lundy. They were presented this week at the Court of Appeal hearing, too. Some of it was astonishing and raised serious questions. And yet it was as though the element of mystery was introduced in stealth.........Was it bad science that did for Lundy? The stains were critical in establishing his guilt. Much of the hearing centred on Eaton's argument that the various tests - conducted in Texas and Holland - ought to have been regarded as laughable fumblings in the dark, and ruled inadmissible. By the by, he also pointed out that surely no other murder prosecution in New Zealand criminal history has relied on the police moving the goalposts so drastically from one trial to the next. In 2002, it was alleged Lundy made his "killing journey" at incredible speeds in the very early evening; in 2015, police put the time of death at around 2.30am, and now had Lundy driving with caution. Even more by the by and by, with something almost resembling discretion, Eaton referred to pieces of forensic evidence gathered at the crime scene. Unidentified footprints in the conservatory, where it's argued an intruder broke into the house on Karamea Crescent. Unidentified footprints. Unidentified DNA found beneath the nails of both Christine and Amber, as well as unidentified fibre - which did not match Lundy's famously stained polo shirt. (Even Eaton referred to the possibility of Lundy wearing overalls, but there is no evidence he owned a pair or had bought the item.) From the 2015 trial, there was this exchange between defence and a forensic expert witness. "Is this right, there were similarities between the results from the fingernail samples from Christine Lundy and those found on the fingernail scrapings of Amber Lundy? "Yes." "So does that mean at least one male was common to both sets of fingernails, Amber Lundy on the one side and her mother on the other?" "Yes. I would suggest that's likely." "And the source of course could be skin?" "Yes." The hearing attracted a light sprinkling of media. They included North & South writer Mike White, whose very detailed investigations into the case led directly to the Privy Council ordering a retrial, and Manawatu Standard reporter Jono Galuszka, who covered the 2015 trial more thoroughly than anyone. But neither had heard of an almost incidental piece of evidence that Eaton mentioned at Tuesday's hearing: unidentified hairs, found in both clenched hands of Christine Lundy. They were evident in a police drawing taken at the autopsy. Christine's hands were wrapped with plastic bags at the crime scene; they were unwrapped at the morgue, and hairs were evident between her fingers. The drawing also indicated defensive wounds to her forearms. There she was, in the last dreadful seconds of her life, holding up her hands to protect her face from the blows; had she also reached up, her fingernails scraping at the skin on her attacker's face, and grabbing at his hair? He had missed with some of his blows, and splintered the headboard. Christine had moved across the bed to get away. Was it in these seconds that she was able to collect fragments from the body of the killer who was someone else other than her husband. The Court of Appeal has the authority to declare a miscarriage of justice, quash the convictions, and order a retrial if it believes the evidence warrants it. Lundy sits, and waits. A ruling is unlikely before the end of the year on this long, enduring mystery."
The entire commentary can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/c
