5:42 pm today

Julia DeLuney found guilty of murdering her mother, Helen Gregory, in Khandallah

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Kate Green , Senior journalist

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Julia Deluney in the High Court at Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

Julia DeLuney has been found guilty of the murder of her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory.

Gregory was found dead on 24 January, 2024 at her home in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah.

DeLuney denied the charge, and has been on trial at the High Court in Wellington since 23 June.

The Crown argued she attacked her mother with a heavy object, possibly motivated by financial incentives or following a confrontation over stolen cash, and staged the scene to look like a fall from the attic.

The defence argued someone else killed her, but the jury did not agree.

Crown prosecutor Stephanie Bishop laid out their version of events for the jury during her closing argument, saying what began as a night to book ballet tickets ended in some kind of confrontation or argument, which saw DeLuney violently attacking her mother.

Julia DeLuney and Helen Gregory on January 9, 2024, in a photo retrieved from DeLuney’s phone by police. Photo: SUPPLIED

She said the jury might never know exactly what happened, but they did know DeLuney was at the scene that night, and that according to a forensic scientist, the scene had been staged – which she said would only benefit DeLuney, not a burglar.

She said the multiple changes of clothes and disposing of unknown items in a passing rubbish truck the following morning pointed towards her guilt.

But Defence lawyer Quentin Duff argued throughout that the police investigation had been “one-eyed” and they had failed to consider anyone else for the murder.

Julia DeLuney at Wellington High Court. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

He pointed to evidence such as a hair found on the hand of the body, which still had a root attached and was able to be DNA tested, which ruled out DeLuney and Gregory as DNA matches.

He told the jury in the 90-minute window where DeLuney had left her mother following a fall from the attic, someone else arrived and violently attacked her.

He said nobody could have caused those injuries without having hatred for Gregory – and there was no sign of that from DeLuney.

More to come…