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Murder of Mellory Manning

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(Redirected from Murder of Mallory Manning) 2008 murder in Christchurch, New Zealand

Mellory Manning
One of the early photos released of Mallory throughout the investigation
BornNgatai Lynette Manning
(1981-02-06)6 February 1981
Nelson, New Zealand
Died18 December 2008(2008-12-18) (aged 27)
Avonside, Christchurch, New Zealand
Cause of deathKnife wounds, strangling, beaten with steel rod
NationalityNew Zealand

Ngatai Lynette Manning (also known as Mellory Manning), aged 27, was murdered in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 18 December 2008. Manning was a sex worker. She was picked up from Manchester Street and presumably taken to a property in Avonside and brutally killed by stabbing, strangling, and assault with a metal pole. Her body was then dumped in the nearby Avon River in Christchurch and found the next morning by a kayaker. Four years later, in March 2012, 24-year-old Mauha Huatahi Fawcett was arrested and charged with her abduction and murder. Following his arrest, police acknowledged there were more people involved and the investigation would be ongoing.

Fawcett was a gang prospect, and had fetal alcohol syndrome. A few days after the murder, he was arrested for breaching bail but released. Over the next four years, police interviewed him eleven times. They lied to him, told him not to talk to a lawyer and pressured him into making a false confession.

Fawcett was subsequently convicted of Manning's murder, and in 2014, he was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison. His conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2017, when it was finally determined that he was cognitively impaired due to fetal alcohol syndrome, and was coerced into signing the confession.

Knowing that Fawcett was not guilty, the police eventually issued a reward for information. No one else has ever been charged.

Manning's background

Manning had a difficult upbringing. Her biological father left the family when she and her siblings were young and they grew up with a stepfather, who was described as 'horrible'. At the age of 14, she left school after spending time foster care, and had started using drugs. She began working as a prostitute at 15, and subsequently spent time in prison.

Her elder sister Jasmine, who "ran in similar circles", entered witness protection and lost contact with Manning, then killed herself in July 2008. Manning gave up prostitution and joined a methadone treatment programme to get off opioids, as she feared she would die young like her sister. Manning inquired about going to a polytechnic to study art, she went to live with her mother, and she and her partner planned to have a child. However, Manning's poverty and unemployment made her unable to afford Christmas presents for her family, and she returned to street prostitution for "just one night". In the days or hours before her death, she had taken methadone, benzodiazepines, and cannabis.

Events on the day

On the evening of 18 December 2008 Manning hitchhiked from Riccarton suburb to central Christchurch. A client picked her up at 9:30 pm from her usual spot at the corner of Manchester and Peterborough Streets and dropped her back there. Manning then had another client which lasted until 10:20 pm. The last sighting of her, by another prostitute, was around 10.35pm. Her cell phone data showed she received a text from a client at 10.41pm, who wanted to see her again. Manning replied to him two minutes later in a neutral manner, suggesting she was not in fear of this individual.

The police believed she was kidnapped shortly thereafter, raped and killed, and her body dumped into the Avon River just before 11pm - her watch stopped working at 10.59pm due to water damage. Another prostitute testified that members of the Mongrel Mob gang were standing over prostitutes in central Christchurch that night, demanding $20 from each job, as they "owned the street".

The following morning, December 19, 2008, a woman running along Dallington Tce, noticed someone’s legs in the Avon River. She signalled a passing kayaker, who pulled the body to the side. By this time, Manning had been in the river for eight hours. She was still clothed and had her handbag over her shoulder. The police identified her from her fingerprints, and soon learned she had been working as a prostitute the night before.

Investigation

There were numerous people of interest, specifically men who lived in Christchurch and regularly used prostitutes. Over the next four years, the police interviewed more than 900 people. They obtained Manning's client list, receiving a list of 40 people they were eager to speak to. The police took DNA evidence from a carpark where Manning was known to take her clients.

In January 2009 police announced that grass seeds were found on the cardigan Manning was wearing, suggesting a number of places at which the murder could have taken place. In December, 2010 police announced they had narrowed down the location where Manning was murdered to a property on Galbraith Avenue in Avonside, close to where her body had been dumped in the river. A warehouse at the site was a Mongrel Mob hangout at the time and they were known to work prostitutes.

In September 2011 the police confirmed that semen found on Manning's body did not match that of any of her clients that night, and they were focusing their investigation on gang members as a result of the discovery of her death site.

The wrongful conviction of Mauha Fawcett

Mauha Fawcett was a Mongrol Mob gang prospect, and was required to ‘tax’ sex workers $20 for each client in Christchurch’s red-light area. Ten days after Manning’s body was found, Fawcett drove to Blenheim, where he crashed his car. He was already known to the police who became suspicious when they heard he left town. A few days after the murder, they arrested him for breaching bail. He was interviewed for four hours without a lawyer and denied having anything to do with Manning's death.

On 29 March 2012, police arrested unemployed 24-year-old Mauha Huatahi Fawcett and charged him with the murder and kidnapping of Manning. Police said he was not linked to the semen sample found on Manning's body, but that he was living in Christchurch at the time and had links to the Galbraith Avenue property. He was a suspect early in the investigation and was convicted on the basis of a coerced confession he made during numerous intense police interviews. Altogether police interviewed him eleven times over a three year period. His story about what happened changed constantly as he denied being involved. His lawyer, Chris Stevenson said Fawcett made a “bewildering array of incomprehensible statements during his police interviews". He was subsequently diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD). Neuropsychologist Valerie McGinn concluded that Fawcett "suffered significant memory impairment, and when he couldn’t remember, he was prone to making up something". She described Fawcett as a “disabled young man”, and said his condition meant he would "fall for every ploy utilised by the police as they interviewed him over prolonged periods on multiple occasions".

Fawcett's trial began in the High Court on 7 February 2014 and was expected to last 6 weeks. Fawcett carried out his own defense and claimed police had coerced him into making a confession. In March 2014, a jury of 6 men and 6 women found Fawcett guilty of murdering Manning. In May, Fawcett was sentenced to life imprisonment with possibility of parole after 20 years. Police acknowledged that Fawcett's sentencing was not the end of the investigation as other gang members were involved in Manning's death. A person of interest labelled "Male B" has not yet been identified but is likely connected to Fawcett and the murder.

On 7 August 2017, the Court of Appeal quashed Fawcett's conviction and ordered a retrial. The reasons for the appeal were not publicly disclosed at the time to preserve the right to a fair trial. It was later revealed that the appeal was upheld on two grounds. Fawcett's amicus curiae lawyer, who had assisted him in his own defence, had put on defences that were inconsistent with Fawcett's blanket denial of involvement. In addition the Court of Appeal heard expert testimony that Fawcett met the criteria to be diagnosed with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which had not been put before the High Court. The Court of Appeal ruled that had this evidence been available during his trial, it might have led to his interviews and admissions of guilty being ruled inadmissible or dismissed by the jury.

In September 2021, High Court Justice Rachel Dunningham ruled Fawcett's statements inadmissible in a new trial as his foetal alcohol spectrum disorder "makes him an unreliable historian even when he is endeavouring to tell the truth". This led to the Crown agreeing to drop the murder charge and on 26 October 2021, Dunningham dismissed the case. Although the Crown had asked for it to be withdrawn under section 146 of the Criminal Procedure Act allowing them to relay the charge in the event of new evidence; this was rejected by the court. The dismissal means Fawcett can only be retried with leave of the Court of Appeal.

References

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  2. 'I reckon we just f...ing lie': Cops caught planning to deceive during murder investigation. Stuff, 8 June 2022
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  8. Dally, Joelle (11 February 2014). "Sex workers say Mob 'owned streets'". Stuff. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
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  27. ^ White, Mike (11 June 2022). "The tragic and terrible case of Mauha Fawcett's wrongful conviction". Stuff.
  28. ^ Beynen, Martin Van (26 October 2021). "Mauha Fawcett can finally sleep again after Mellory Manning murder charge dismissed". Retrieved 14 March 2022.
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  34. ^ "Former Mongrel Mob prospect cleared of Mellory Manning's 2008 murder". Retrieved 14 March 2022.
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