Second murder trial outburst by Russell Tully

Russell John Tully lasted another three minutes in his double-murder trial before another outburst led to his removal.

The trial is going on without him and he has no lawyer of his own. Two amicus curiae (friends of the court) have been appointed to assist him and they remain in court.

Tully lasted just one minute on Thursday – the second day of the trial before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury in the High Court at Christchurch – before a similar outburst led to his removal.

As soon as the court began today, Tully demanded to see a doctor. He said he had been asking to see a doctor for six months. He continued speaking when Justice Mander directed him to be quiet so that evidence could be heard from the first witness.

“I have been on a hunger strike for two weeks,” Tully shouted.

He said he was entitled to a lawyer by law, and disclosure, and to a doctor.

“We have been through all these issues,” Justice Mander said.

He then alleged “trial fixing”, a phrase he kept shouting repeatedly until Justice Mander said it was evident he would not desist and ordered him to be taken out of the court in his wheelchair, by Corrections staff.

Justice Mander then told the jury that it was a fundamental right for Tully to be present at his own trial, but he had interrupted proceedings and not allowed the trial to proceed. He explained that as the trial judge, he had power to continue the trial in his absence and he considered that was appropriate. The step was not taken lightly.

“Matters have come to this, when it it necessary for the trial to proceed despite his absence and lack of legal representation, regrettable as that is,” he said.

Tully’s behaviour and comments in court had no bearing on the jury’s task in the trial. They must still decide the case on the evidence put before them, in the same way as any other trial jury.

Tully is on trial for the murders of Peggy Turuhira Noble and Susan Leigh Cleveland and the attempted murder of Lindy Louise Curtis and Kim Elizabeth Adams, in a shotgun shooting at the Ashburton Work and Income NZ office on September 1, 2014.

He is also charged with setting a man trap – a steel wire stretched between two trees – and unlawful possession of two shotguns. One shotgun is an exhibit in court, but the Crown has said the one allegedly used in the shootings has never been found.

Tully is represented in court by two amicus curiae (friends of the court), James Rapley and Phil Shamy. Andrew McRae and Mark Zarifeh represent the Crown.

Tully was not present in court when the charges were read but he was deemed to have entered not guilty pleas.

Morning update: Ashburton pharmacy manager Barbara Joy Glassey told of a man she later found out was Tully coming into the shop once or twice a week for a month to buy bottles of hydrogen peroxide.

He chatted normally, and seemed a bit “weathered”, but she said when he came in to buy the same item on the day of the shooting, September 1, he had bought it without saying a word.

“I just thought he was having a bad day,” she told the court.

She saw him a few minutes later sitting across the road on a bench seat. He had a bag beside him, but she could not see what was in it.

The WINZ service centre manager for Ashburton and Hornby, Olivia Alice Monk, told of being made aware of Tully by another manager when Tully moved into the district because he had been so difficult to deal with. He made a series of complaints about his dealings with the office.

She had a phone conversation with Tully three days before the shootings, when she explained to him that the office would not see him at an appointment that had been arranged because he had been trespassed from the office because of his behaviour. He threatened her with a lawyer, and then hung up.

Lucy Annabel Waller said she had gone to the WINZ office to deliver a document and was waiting in front of the reception desk, when she saw a man in work boots come into the office. She saw he was wearing a black balaclava which was “a bit wonky”, and he was holding a gun beside his leg and it was pointing to the floor.

The man appeared to have blotchy red patches on his neck and hands. He was tall, with quite a skinny build. His skin colour was white. The black gun appeared to be a semi-automatic shotgun, with what appeared to be a cut-down barrel.

“I just froze and stood still,” she said.

 

Tags: Ashburton, attempted murder, murder, WINZ

Category: News