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Lawyer guilty of smuggling contraband for murderer

Tvnz.co.nz

August 1, 2013

Lawyer Davina Murray has this morning been found guilty of smuggling contraband items to convicted murderer and rapist Liam Reid in prison.

Judge Russell Collins today found Ms Murray, a former Maori Party candidate, guilty of smuggling an iPhone, cigarettes and a lighter into Mt Eden Prison for her alleged boyfriend.

Reid, 41, is serving a 23-year sentence for the 2007 rape and murder of deaf Christchurch woman Emma Agnew, and the rape and attempted murder of a Dunedin student a few days later.

Judge Collins told the Auckland District Court this morning Ms Murray had provided insufficient evidence to back up her defence, other than what "was a result of conspiracy between corrections officer".

The judge said he had no difficulty disregarding evidence given by Reid as "completely implausible".

Ms Murray said she would file an application to be discharged without conviction.

Phone calls between the two were played in court during the trial, which the Crown said was evidence of their relationship.

Text messages from Ms Murray to friends were also read out.

One message described Reid as "the best kisser I've ever kissed", while others talked of Ms Murray's love for Reid.

"I hate that I'm in love with him but I'm scared to lose him," she told a friend in one message.

"I love him like I have never loved anyone before," another said.

Reid said Ms Murray was the only person who had ever believed he was innocent.

"She's the only person that's ever stood by me. So she's my lawyer, but I also consider her a friend".

Murderer's appeal application dismissed

By Keith Lynch - Stuff.co.nz

February 28, 2012

A convicted murderer's application to appeal to the Supreme Court has been dismissed.

In 2008, Liam James Reid was found guilty of the murder and rape of Christchurch woman Emma Agnew, 20.

Reid was also found guilty of the rape and attempted murder of a student in Dunedin after he killed Agnew.

In July 2009, the Court of Appeal dismissed Reid's initial appeal against the conviction.

An application for leave to appeal was not made to the Supreme Court until February 21, 2011, more than a year and a half out of time.

Reid had claimed there was a late disclosure by the prosecution of certain DNA evidence and evidence of the tracking of the murdered woman's mobile phone.

He claimed the defence was unable to review that evidence before the trial, therefore a miscarriage of justice had occurred.

Reid's lawyer had been instructed for the appeal to the Supreme Court but a year after the making of the application, there has been no progress.

Reid's lawyer has told the the Court that as evidence has not been reviewed because legal aid funding has not been made available, he was not in a position to advise Reid on whether there were any grounds to appeal.

In its judgment, the Supreme Court also noted: ''Nothing has been put before this court which could provide any basis for the conclusion that either the DNA evidence or the evidence of the tracking of the mobile phone was actually unreliable, so that a substantial miscarriage of justice may have occurred. The suggestion that upon a review either of those pieces of evidence may prove to be suspect in some respect is therefore entirely speculative.

''In these circumstances, and in the absence of any indication that the position concerning funding is likely to change, no grounds have been established for the proposed appeal. The application for leave must therefore be dismissed.''

'You are an evil and dangerous predator'

Nzherald.co.nz

December 13, 2008

Liam James Reid - described by the judge as "an evil and dangerous predator" - bowed and waved to the clapping crowd as he began one of New Zealand's longest terms for murder, rape, and attempted murder.

Justice Lester Chisholm said Reid's arrogance was unbelievable. He imposed a minimum non-parole term of 26 years as well as preventive detention for the murder and rapes in Christchurch and Dunedin.

The gallery in the No 1 High Court at Christchurch was packed to see the sentencing of the man convicted of the rape and murder of deaf woman Emma Agnew, and the rape, sexual violation, attempted murder and robbery of a 21-year-old student in Dunedin.

Many of the audience were members of the deaf community and the sentencing session was interpreted with sign language.

The public gallery broke into applause as sentence was finally imposed. Reid, 36, shaven headed, tattooed and flanked by three prison officers, bowed to the crowd and then raised both arms in a kind of victory salute as he was led away.

In one sense, he has fulfilled his life's ambition. The medical reports prepared on him before sentencing say he wanted to be a serial murderer and rapist.

He raped and murdered Emma Agnew at Spencer Park on November 15, 2007, and then attacked a Dunedin student nine days later, raping her and trying to strangle her before she belted him in the testicles and got away.

Outside the court, the family of Miss Agnew said they believed the judge had made the right decision, but it would not bring Emma back. Her brother said: "We can finally have peace. We can finally be left alone. We can think about our sister."

Garth McVicar of the Sensible Sentencing Trust was in court, and said on the steps of the courthouse: "We have got to be ecstatic about the sentence. Congratulations to the judge. He has sent a message to New Zealand that we won't accept this type of behaviour. It's one of the best sentencings we have seen."

Crown prosecutor Pip Currie said the Crown sought up to 22 years non-parole term for the rape and murder of Miss Agnew, and an uplift for the Dunedin attack.

She said the reports revealed Reid's sadistic sexual fantasies about rape and murder, and how he became blind with rage when he was angry. He could picture himself squeezing people's heads until they popped.

He had reported in detail that he would like to rape and murder and dispose of female victims. He spoke of a childhood desire to kill animals because he found that satisfying, but he thought killing a person would be better.

He had 61 previous convictions for threats, assaults and two aggravated robberies, but none were for sexual offending.

Defence counsel David Bunce urged that a minimum non-parole term of no more than 20 years be imposed.

He said preventive detention was not an additional penalty but was imposed for the continuing safety of the community. But it was inherently difficult to predict the likelihood of further offending so many years in advance. The Parole Board would be in a better position to decide the matter at the time.

Justice Chisholm said it would have been immediately obvious to Reid, when he met Miss Agnew, that she was "deaf and vulnerable to your evil designs". He had not been deterred.

The later Dunedin attack had been premeditated, on a woman who was drunk and vulnerable, because Reid had with him the rope that was used to choke her during the sexual assault.

The judge said he had no doubt that he had strangled her and meant to leave her for dead.

Reid still denies all the offending and refuses to take treatment. Attempts at treatment have been stopped because of his hostility.

Justice Chisholm told him: "You are arrogant. You seek to dominate, particularly women. You are not lacking in intelligence and that is one of the dangers that underlie your activities. Sadly, there is not the slightest flicker of remorse. To sum up, you are an evil and dangerous predator."

He said there was not the slightest doubt that the jury had got it right.

Reid will be 62 when he becomes eligible for consideration for parole.

Highest non-parole periods

* Feb 2003: William Bell, 25, jailed for a minimum non-parole period of 33 years, later reduced to 30 years on appeal, for killing three people at the Mt Wellington-Panmure Returned Services Association on December 8, 2001.

* Dec 2002: Bruce Thomas Howse, 40, 28 years non-parole on his life sentence for the murders of his stepdaughters Saliel Aplin and Olympia Jetson in their Masterton sleepout on December 4, 2001.

* April 2007: Convicted double killer Graeme Burton given a sentence of preventive detention with a non-parole period of 26 years, after pleading guilty to all 11 charges arising from his rampage on Wainuiomata Hill in January, which left quad biker Karl Kuchenbecker dead and four others injured.

* Dec 2008: Liam Reid, 36, given preventive detention with a minimum non-parole period of 26 years for murdering and raping deaf Christchurch woman Emma Agnew, and raping, sexually violating, attempting to murder and robbing a Dunedin woman nine days later.

Murderer, rapist Reid craved notoriety

Stuff.co.nz

December 12, 2008

Rapist and murderer Liam Reid has achieved a life-long goal of entering the pantheon of New Zealand's worst criminals, a former partner and victim says.

Reid, 36, bowed to the applauding High Court gallery as he was jailed indefinitely yesterday for the rape and murder of deaf Christchurch woman Emma Agnew, 20, and the subsequent rape and attempted murder of a young Dunedin woman.

He was sentenced to preventive detention to be released only when the parole board deemed him no longer a threat to society.

His minimum non-parole term was set at 26 years, the second-longest stretch awarded to a New Zealand criminal, equal to that of double-murderer Graeme Burton.

A member of Agnew's family spat at Reid in disgust as Reid performed his final public act raising his hands in celebration as he was led from the court.

"You are an evil and dangerous predator," sentencing judge Justice Chisholm said.

"You are arrogant. You seek to dominate particularly women. You are not without intelligence that is one of the dangers that underlies your activities. Sadly, there is not the slightest flicker of remorse."

The judge's voice shook with emotion as he read a list of Reid's crimes.

Agnew's deafness made her "vulnerable to your evil designs", the judge said.

"You were not deterred. You raped her and you murdered her. I am perfectly satisfied it was violent in the extreme. These were callous and despicable acts, Mr Reid."

The judge described Reid meeting his Dunedin victim nine days later, attacking her, and dragging her across a carpark by her hair as "just like an animal would with its prey".

The prolonged rape and attempted murder that followed would haunt the woman for the rest of her life, he said.

Outside court, the former partner of Reid, who he was found not guilty of attempting to murder in 2001, said Reid was revelling in the attention.

"He wanted to be New Zealand's most notorious criminal. This is the only thing he's got. It's his dream come true."

The woman, who travelled from the North Island with her two sisters for the sentencing, said she had made contact with the Agnew family. She had also met the Dunedin victim who she described as "already an amazing woman".

"She's determined not to be a victim," she said.

Agnew's family said the sentence was just and would finally allow them peace.

"We can finally be left alone. We can think about our sister," her brother, Toby, said.

Agnew's aunt, Evelyn Pateman, said Reid's performance at the end showed he thought it was "all a game".

The sentence was "probably a bit better than what I expected", she said.

The Crown had asked for a 21 or 22-year non-parole term but the judge raised the figure.

The judge said Reid had 61 previous convictions for assaults, robberies and drug offences.

Prosecutor Pip Currie said Reid's psychological examinations included "explicit details of his sadistic fantasies", including picturing himself "squeezing someone's head until they pop".

Reid had said he wanted to live a "vigilante life" and "couldn't be straight to save himself", she said.

"He enjoyed the game of outrunning the police and the adrenalin of it.

"In childhood he had a desire to kill animals because he found that satisfying but he thought killing a person would be better."

The judge said reports about Reid's thought processes were "absolutely chilling".

"For example, the ambition to be a serial rapist and murderer".

This ambition, Reid had said, was thwarted only by police having his DNA on file.

"It is my view that it would take a miraculous transformation in you before women would be safe if you were let back on the streets."

Defence counsel David Bunce said there was an "air of unreality" about comparing murders to "establish a batting order".

In the end, Reid was ranked second-equal after Auckland RSA triple-murderer William Bell, who was given a 30-year non-parole sentence.

Child murderer Bruce Howse had a 28-year sentence reduced to 25 years on parole.

Reid guilty of rape and murder

Stuff.co.nz

October 30, 2008

Liam James Reid has been found guilty of the rape and murder of Christchurch woman Emma Agnew, and the brutal rape of another woman.

A jury of seven men and five woman returned the verdict in the High Court in Christchurch this morning, finding him guilty of violating and murdering the deaf woman and dumping her body in Spencer Park north of Christchurch in November last year.

The 36-year-old was found guilty of the rape and murder of Agnew, 20, and the subsequent rape, indecent assault, robbery and attempted murder of a 21-year-old Dunedin student.

The jury was unanimous, and shortly after the verdicts were announced Justice Chisholm sentenced Reid to life imprisonment, and will consider whether to impose a preventive detention order at a hearing on December 12.

Agnew's father Henry Agnew said the verdict was "really, really good'' and the family were "very relieved'', although it was what they had expected.

"We miss Emma so much,'' he said, through a sign language interpreter.

"It has to be life. It has to be life.''

The family extended their thanks for the support given them during the ordeal.

"The deaf community have been really good,'' Henry Agnew said.

"I would like to say thanks to the police for all the work they have put in. The lawyers as well. They have done a fantastic job.

"We are a very close family so we will just keep going.''

He added their thoughts were with Reid's Dunedin victim.

"We are really thankful that both trials could be heard together.''

Detective senior sergeant Tom Fitzgerald, officer in charge of the case, said the Crown would push for a preventive detention sentence for Reid.

"Certainly it is pleasing that it is finished now for all the team, as it has been a lengthy investigation. It doesn't give you great pleasure at the end. We wish we didn't have to do this investigation at all.

The verdicts were greeted with tears and gasps of relief from a courtroom packed with Agnew's family and members of the deaf community.

Agnew was a popular young worker in the community, and her murder sparked a huge response from the close-knit group who had been at the trial every day.

The jury was sent to a hotel at 6pm yesterday after listening to the defence's closing address and Justice Chisholm's summing-up.

It took the jury four hours in total to reach a verdict after hearing four weeks worth of evidence from more than 100 witnesses.

Defence counsel David Bunce urged jurors to disregard aspects of Reid's appearance or behaviour they found "strange to you or not to your taste".

Reid had been frank and had "let it all hang out".

His performance in the witness box was in contrast to that of his former girlfriend, who was "totally untruthful and unreliable" in her evidence, Bunce said.

The woman was "not a girlfriend reluctantly giving evidence" but rather she "lost no opportunity to present Mr Reid in the worst possible way".

Bunce said the woman had been misleading about the pair's sex life.

Text messages from her to Reid showed she was a willing participant in their rough sex.

The woman's cannabis dealing, which she had denied and the defence had been at pains to establish, was of "no interest" to the defence, "except to show she is a liar", Bunce said.

Bunce said the Dunedin victim had said her attacker was taller than her when in fact they were the same height.

The woman said Reid received phone calls during the attack, but Reid's phone records showed this not to be true.

She had failed to identify Reid's salient features his tattoos, he said.

Bunce criticised the woman's identification of Reid, where she picked him from a police photo montage. The pictures had been cropped to not show Reid's tattoos because police already knew the woman had made a statement that made no mention of that feature, he said.

Bunce said DNA evidence against Reid was "scraping the bottom of the barrel", using new techniques of uncertain reliability.

The judge directed the jury to consider the case without prejudice. He said the onus was on the Crown to prove the case, to the extent that Reid's testimony should not count against him, even if jurors found it unreliable, as there was no onus on him to prove anything.

The judge cautioned the jurors not to play detective and warned them to stay away from the internet.

Reid guilty of rape and murder

A jury has found the man accused of killing deaf woman Emma Agnew guilty of all charges he faced.

Liam Reid, 36, had pleaded not guilty to the rape and murder of Agnew in Spencer Park, north of Christchurch, in November last year and raping, sexually violating, robbing and attempting to murder a 21-year-old Dunedin student nine days later.

The jurors returned to court about 10:30am Friday to deliver verdicts of guilty on all six counts, after a total of four hours deliberation.

Reid has been given an automatic life sentence but there will be a formal sentencing in December where the Crown will seek preventive detention which would mean he would not get out of jail until there's no risk to the public.

There was audible reaction from members of the public inside court as the six guilty verdicts were read.

It was not known until the indictment was read in court on Monday October 6, before the jury was empanelled, that Reid would be charged with the attack on the Dunedin woman in addition to the murder of Agnew.

The Crown claimed there was overwhelming evidence that Reid raped and murdered Agnew, including phone records and forensic evidence, and an admission to his girlfriend that he raped and murdered Agnew and admitted raping a student in Dunedin.

Reid gave evidence in his own defence, denying all the charges and claiming he had been framed. He even suggested police planted evidence.

He said the scientific evidence against him must have arisen from accidental transference, contamination or from being planted.

Reid's lawyer, David Bunce, attacked the credibility of the Crown's main witness, telling the jury that the Crown had thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Reid.

The court had packed galleries for most of the trial and visitor numbers were high for the two days of closing addresses by the Crown and defence, and the judge's summing up.

The jury had to consider evidence from over 100 witnesses in reaching a verdict.

More than 50 people packed the public gallery to hear the verdicts which were delivered after four hours of deliberations.

Bunce says his client reacted well to the guilty verdicts. He says Reid showed little emotion and he doesn't know whether or not they will appeal the conviction.

Timeline: Emma Agnew murder case

Chronology of events in the Emma Agnew murder case:

November 15, 2007: Deaf Christchurch 20-year Emma Agnew goes missing after texting her family that morning to say she was planning to meet a man who was interested in buying her car.

Her burnt-out car found in Bromley Park, in eastern part of the city, that night.

November 26: Agnew's body found hidden in scrub near the Spencer Park Motor Camp, 15 kilometres northeast of Christchurch. She had been suffocated with a sock.

November 27: Liam James Reid arrested after armed offenders squad raid on a Christchurch boarding house.

November 28: Reid makes initial court appearance, with members of the public scuffling and shouting obscenities at him.

Speculation surfaces that Reid could be responsible for the savage rape of a 21-year-old woman in Dunedin only days earlier.

April 3, 2008: Reid committed for trial for Emma Agnew's murder after a four-day depositions hearing in Christchurch District Court.

October 6: As Reid's murder trial gets under way, he is charged with the Dunedin sex attack nine days after he killed Emma Agnew.

Counts of attempted murder, rape, sexual violation, and robbery in relation to that attack are added to the rape and murder charges he faces over Ms Agnew's death.

October 20: Crown tells court that rough sex Reid indulged in was "a signature" which linked him to both Ms Agnew's murder and the Dunedin attack. Both women suffered deep genital bruising.

October 31: Reid found guilty on all charges after less than four hours of jury deliberation. Jailed for life but Crown will seek preventive detention at a sentencing hearing set down for December 12.

December 12: Reid sentenced to preventive detention with a minimum non-parole period of 26 years.

The violent life and times of Liam James Reid

Tvnz.co.nz

October 31, 2008

The violent life and times of Liam James Reid:

Liam James Reid has been on trial before for abducting a woman, sexually violating her, and attempting to murder her during a session of experimental sex he described as "cool".

He was acquitted of all those charges in October 2002, but convicted of fraudulently using the victim's bank card while he was on the run, when he knew she had gone to the police.

He had a different name then, Julian Heath Edgecombe, which was mentioned during his four-week trial on charges of raping and murdering Emma Agnew, and raping, sexually violating, attempting to murder, and robbing another woman in Dunedin.

The Dunedin woman told of being attacked in the street by a man who put a rope around her neck and choked her during the rape.

Emma Agnew was found near Spencer Park, naked and choked to death with a sock stuffed into the back of her throat, blocking her airway.

Handcuffing, spanking, and asphyxia were part of the sex games Edgecombe admitted playing with the woman he was accused of trying to hang in 2002.

The pair argued and he said that when they were going to have "reconciliation sex" he told her that he needed to protect himself because of the threats she made to have him charged and to harm his daughter.

She then wrote a note, saying she had not been raped and it referred to spanking.

Edgecombe told of having sex with her involving spanking and asphyxia using a power cord. He denied that he had tried to hang her with a phone cable.

As he did at the murder trial this month, Edgecombe gave evidence in his own defence. He told the court he and the woman had "hard out, furious, fast, deviant, experimental, disgusting sex. It was cool. To us it was normal."

After the acquittals on all the sex charges, Edgecombe was remanded for sentence on the bank card charge and got a three-month jail term.

His time in prison on remand had been marked with violence.

In November 2002 he admitted attacking two other prison inmates in a frenzied bashing with a broom handle.

He broke the broom handle over one man, who was struck repeatedly. The second victim was bashed over the head when he tried to intervene.

Judge David Holderness referred to Edgcombe's bad list of previous offending, including violence, and jailed him for 27 months.

He was acquitted in 2003 on a charge of assaulting another inmate with intent to injure - a charge that alleged he had thrown a mug of boiling water in the other man's face and then punched him 15 times.

Edgecombe also attacked a convicted paedophile in prison. His attack may have left George Darren Cant - in jail for molesting five children at a church camp - eligible for tens of thousands of dollars in compensation.

When Edgecombe was cuffed by a prison officer he claimed $40,000 compensation but it was refused in a decision by Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen Erber in July 2005.

Cant would have been eligible to claim any compensation money that Edgecombe had received.

The prison officer lost his job over the incident.

Edgecombe claimed the compensation for "hurt feelings".

After Judge Erber refused compensation, Justice Minister Phil Goff said: "It vindicates the government's judgement that this legislation (the Prisoners and Victims Claims Act) would be effective in stopping golden handshakes for inmates where disciplinary action against an errant prison officer dealt more effectively with the problem."

During the hearing, there was reference to Edgecombe's previous convictions for assault, possessing unlicensed firearms, and making threats to kill.

Now the man with all the tattoos has added convictions for rape, sexual violation, attempted murder and robbery to his record.

He has begun a life sentence, which may become preventive detention in December.