Sentencing date set for Ashburton WINZ shooter
May 27 has been set for the sentencing of Russell John Tully for the murder of two Ashburton WINZ staff and the attempted murder of a third.
The sentencing follows his conviction at a trial in the High Court at Christchurch in February and March. Tully, 49, was absent for much of the trial before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury, after twice disrupting proceedings.
However, he stood quietly in court when the guilty verdicts were read.
He was remanded for sentencing on April 15, but the date was vacated without explanation, and the High Court has issued an announcement today saying that it will now take place in the Christchurch High Court on May 27, at 10am.
Tully remains in custody.
He was convicted of the murder of WINZ receptionist Peggy Turuhira Noble and case worker Susan Leigh Cleveland, in a shotgun attack at the office in September 2014, and the attempted murder of another staff member he fired at but missed.
He was found not guilty of the attempted murder of another staff member he shot in the leg, and setting a man-trap – a steel wire found stretched between two trees in the hours when police were hunting him in the Ashburton River area.
He was convicted of unlawful possession of two shotguns.
Category: Focus
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