New Zealand True Crime: 11 Shocking Cases (And Best Podcasts)

This article is about New Zealand true crime and discusses themes of child abuse, violence, and murder, which some readers may find deeply distressing. Reader discretion is advised.

Travelling around New Zealand for three amazing years, we heard so many great stories about the settler and indigenous history of New Zealand Aotearoa from locals, friends and guides.

From time to time we would also hear about the darker side of New Zealand’s history.

Stories about death and people going missing. Stories about murderers and abductors.

Some of the more well known stories really stuck with us and listening to them detailed in some of our favourite true crime podcasts kept us sitting upright during road trips down the long and often lonely highways of the North and South Island.

Most Interesting New Zealand True Crime Cases In History

New Zealand has a lot of inequality and an extreme gang culture however it is also a completely safe place to travel with a very low crime rate and we never felt unsafe or threatened in our time there.

Despite this, and like anywhere else on the planet (where humans live); murder, massacres and disappearances do happen.

New Zealand has seen a number of notorious and intriguing true crime cases that have captivated the public’s attention over the years. These cases have become part of New Zealand’s criminal history, often sparking widespread media coverage, public debates, changes in legislation and calls for justice.

In this post discover 11 cases of New Zealand true crime that deeply affected the people of Aotearoa.

If your morbid curiosity hasn’t been quenched, listen to the playlist of some of our favourite podcasts that go deeper into the grizzly details of each case at the end of the article.

1. Minnie Dean (1895) – Baby Farmer Only Woman To Be Hanged In New Zealand

One of the more interesting cases in New Zealand’s true crime history and the oldest I will cover here, is the infanticide that was committed by the Notorious Minnie Dean. As a result of her crimes, Minnie Dean became the very first and last woman to be hanged in New Zealand.

Who Was Minnie Dean?

Minnie Dean was born in 1844 in Greenock, Scotland, and arrived in New Zealand in the late 1850s. In 1872 she married an innkeeper by the name of Charles Dean.

Minnie and Charles ran an Inn in Southland and later began pig farming.

But after the gold rush ended and times became tougher economically, Minnie and Charles took up ‘child farming’ – the practice of taking in unwanted children for a fee.

Baby Farming & Murdering

Minnie and Charles had about 9 children in their care at any one time. An estimated 28 children passed through their hands one way or another during the length of their crimes.

In 1894 Minnie attracted suspicion due to the mysterious deaths of 2 children in her care. But a coroner’s inquest would find her not responsible for these initial deaths.

Suspicions of Minnie grew deeper in 1895 when she purchased a baby from an unwed mother and a small hat box on the same day. She was seen later that day boarding a train without the child.

Following her arrest they dug up her garden where the bodies of three children were found.

Minnie Sentenced To Death By Hanging

Minnie claimed to have cared for a total 28 children. Of these, five were alive when she was arrested. Six children had died under her care, and one child had been reclaimed by her parents. That left about fourteen or so children unaccounted for.

Minnie Dean was found guilty of murder and was then sentenced to death.

On the 12th of August 1895, Minnie was hanged in Invercargill. Her body is buried in Winton, a small town north of Invercargill in the South Island.

What About Minnie’s Husband Charles?

Only Minnie was implicated and her husband Charles was never convicted of any crimes.

It seems he shared equal responsibility for the neglect but due to him not being present during the murders he was never implicated. Perhaps this was because child-rearing was considered solely a woman’s duty during that era.

He died in 1908 in a house fire.

Did She Do It?

There was some considerable doubt regarding Minnie’s guilt as high infant mortality at the time was a significant issue at the time. In 1895 this figure was 126.63 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to 3.8 deaths per 1,000 today.

True Crime Podcast About Minnie Dean

• Minnie Dean’s life and the death of the children in her care is expertly described in the Radio New Zealand podcast: Black Sheep episode S5 E8 ‘Baby Farmer: the story of Minnie Dean’

2. The Parker-Hulme Murder (1954) – Daughter Murdered Mum With Best Friend

By the 1950s, New Zealand was a conservative society, buoyed by the post-war prosperity but laden down by traditional British values. The country was a nation with low crime rates and strict moral expectations. It was also a nation where mental health and societal issues were often dismissed or misunderstood.

Against this backdrop, two teenage girls committed a brutal crime that clashed with the era’s ideals of innocence and conformity.

Teenager Brutally Murdered Her Mother With Best Friend

Teenagers Pauline Parker (aged 16 at the time) and Juliet Hulme (aged 15 at the time) were best friends. The two girls were inseparable and by all accounts equally obsessed with one another.

However Juliet’s family had recently made plans to return to England and leave Juliet in the care of relatives in South Africa. Pauline wanted to join her there but feared her mother Honorah would object. This line of thinking somehow led the two girls to believe that Honorah was trying to separate them.

So on June 2nd 1954, they lured Honorah to Victoria Park, near to where they lived in Christchurch. They then violently attacked her. The two teenagers fatally bludgeoned Parker’s mother Honorah to death with a brick enclosed in an old stocking.

Why Did They Do It?

It turned out that Parker and Hulme lived in a fantastical and imaginative world of their own creation where they even conceived of their own religion and belief system. It was suggested that these delusions led to the murder.

The press and media at the time also sensationalised and speculated that the two girls were in a lesbian relationship. In the 1950s, this would have been seen as further mental instability as homosexuality was considered a mental illness. This idea however has been flatly denied by both women since.

Aftermath Of The Parker-Hulme Murder

Both girls were convicted for the murder of Parker’s mother, but they were too young for the death sentence – the typical sentence for murder in New Zealand at the time. They were released after serving just five years each in prison.

After their release, the two women went on to lead relatively normal lives. Juliet Hulme moved to Scotland and wrote historical detective fiction under the pseudonym Anne Perry. Pauline Parker moved to England and became a librarian.

True Crime Podcast and a Movie About The Parker-Hulme Murder

• True Crime Podcast About The Parker-Hulme Murder: This case was outlined and discussed in Episode 572 of the Morbid Podcast.
• The story was also made into the 1994 Oscar-nominated movie ‘Heavenly Creatures’ by New Zealand Director Peter Jackson.

3. The Crewe Murders (1970) – Farmer Couple Murdered & Toddler Witness Left Alive

The Waikato region is a beautiful and stunning rural area of New Zealand, with many hidden features including caves and waterfalls. It also turns out that it has some other deep hidden secrets.

In June 1970, farmers Harvey (aged 28) and Jeannette Crewe (aged 30) went missing from their home near Pukekawa.

In the months leading up to their dissaperance the couple had been experiencing strange disturbances including burglaries and arson at their home.

After they were reported missing authorities searched the blood-stained property where they found the couple’s 18-month-old daughter was found left alone in her cot.

Following an extensive search, the couple’s bodies were found dumped in the Waikato River. They both had bullet wounds. Jeannette was found in August 1970 wrapped in a duvet, and Harvey was found in September 1970.

Convictions For The Crewe Murders

A neighbouring farmer, Arthur Allan Thomas, was wrongfully convicted for this murder twice, in 1971 and 1973. Thomas appealed his convictions and was released after serving 9 years in jail. A Royal Commission inquiry concluded that evidence in the case had been planted by the New Zealand Police. The Crewe murder is particularly infamous due to the police misconduct and framing of Arthur Allan Thomas.

There was strong circumstantial evidence that the father of Jeanette Crewe, Mr Lenard M. Demler may have carried out the killings. However, his involvement was ruled out in a 2014 case review.

The real killer has never been identified, and the case remains one of the greatest unsolved true crime mysteries in New Zealand, leaving people still looking for answers today.

True Crime Podcasts About The Crewe Murders

• The Crewe Murders is featured in Season 2 Episode 16 of the Unanswered Questions podcast
• You can also listen to the story of the Crewe Murders on True Crime Conversations The Wrongful Conviction That Divided New Zealand

4. Urban Höglin and Heidi Paakkonen (1989) – Backpackers Disappear Into The New Zealand Bush

The Coromandel is an amazing peninsula full of adventure, hikes, a famous hot water beach and plenty of attractions and things to see. It is a popular spot for travellers and weekend trippers from Auckland to visit.

It is also the home of one of New Zealand’s most controversial mysteries.

Backpackers Disappear In Coromandel Forest Park

By April 1989, Sven Urban Höglin (aged 23) and Heidi Birgitta Paakkonen (aged 21), two Swedish backpackers, had been touring New Zealand for five months.

They had just made it to Coromandel in their white Subaru. The couple made plans and went hiking into the bush near Thames, but nobody knows exactly what happened to them after that.

It was over a month later in May 1989 before their disappearance was reported to the New Zealand Police.

The Police, local residents, search and rescue and military personnel then took part in what would be the largest land-based search to be undertaken in New Zealand.

Numerous rumours circulated about what happened to the missing couple, and contradicting statements only added to the confusion.

With limited evidence and growing pressure to secure a conviction, the police pressed forward despite the absence of the couple’s bodies.

New Zealander Convicted Of Murder

David Tamihere, a New Zealander who was already in prison on charges of rape and assault, was charged with their murder.

Witness statements put him in possession of the white Subaru in the days following the disappearance of Höglin and Paakkonen.

A witness also claims to have seen a man who resembled him with a woman resembling Paakkonen in the Coromandel bush.

Tamihere’s conviction was controversial, hinging largely on circumstantial evidence and testimonies from prison inmates.

Following a trial, he was sentenced to life in prison for the backpacker’s murders in December 1990.

Discovery Of Skeleton & Discarded Evidence

In 1991, Urban Höglin’s skeleton was found deep in the Coromandel bush near Whangamata.

The discovery of Hoglin’s body called into question the testimonies of prison inmates. One testimony stated that Tamihere confessed to cutting up the bodies and throwing them into the ocean. Another testimony said that Tamihere took Hoglin’s watch and gave it to his son. But the watch was found on his skeleton. Another witness even claimed to have been paid by the New Zealand Police to supply testimony. 

Heidi Paakkonen’s remains have never been found.

But in 2017, a bushman found a discarded plastic bag containing women’s clothing. The bag was found near where Hoglin’s skeleton was discovered. The bushman took the bag to the Police. However, the New Zealand Police never tested the clothes for DNA and even destroyed the items. Forensic scientists have described the New Zealand Police’s handling of the evidence as appalling. 

David Tamihere was released on parole in 2010, yet doubts about his guilt linger, leaving the case a mystery in New Zealand’s true crime history.

True Crime Podcasts About Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen

• This case was expertly detailed and discussed in Episode 209 of our favourite true crime podcast The Casefile Podcast
• Ryan Wolf goes even deeper in his full 20-part podcast Season 3 of the GUILT Podcast which attempts to uncover more evidence and answer what happened to Heidi and Urban.

5. The Aramoana Massacre (1990) – Deadly Mass Shooting In Idyllic Seaside Village

Outside of Dunedin at the mouth of the Otago Harbour, there is a long, rocky sea wall called the Mole. This sea wall helps maintain the shipping channel which leads to Dunedin and Port Chalmers, the main port in Otago.

There’s an abundance of sea life to be seen here. Porpoises, penguins and albatrosses are just some of the animals that can be spotted here. The beautiful area has a gorgeous white sandy beach and is an idyllic-looking place.

A small settlement is located at the foot of this sea wall – Aramoana, a village with less than 300 residents. The name Aramoana means ‘pathway of the sea’ in Maori.

We visited Aramoana in February 2022 and found it to be quite charming. There are no shops, it is quiet and quaint, with little to do but enjoy the surrounding nature. Little did we know that this picturesque retreat was witness to one of the most notorious massacres in modern New Zealand history.

It was here in November 1990 that David Gray (aged 33), a local recluse, went on a random shooting spree that shocked the nation.

Mass Shooting In Aramoana – What Happened?

Over a period of two days, David went on a brutal rampage, shooting Aramoana locals at random.

It began on the evening of November 13th, when following a minor dispute David Gray shot his neighbour Garry Holden. David Gray would then proceed to shoot Holden’s two daughters, Holden’s partner’s child, several locals walking in the street, and a family group travelling in their car with three young children. He also set the Holden house on fire and burned it to the ground while firing indiscriminately at nearby locals, vehicles and subsequently police officers.

Locals alerted police and emergency services of the events. A massive police manhunt ensued. Following the arrival of the police to Aramoana from neighbouring Port Chalmers and Dunedin, Gray shot and killed Sergeant Stewart Guthrie.

Overnight, Gray hid inside an unoccupied ‘bach’ and an arduous standoff with the Anti-Terrorist Squad then took place beginning early in the morning of November 14th.

The standoff would last almost the full day of the 14th. Residents were told to hide out in their homes until the gunman was apprehended.

The ordeal finally ended that evening at around 6 pm, after Gray went outside of the bach while firing at the police officers. They fired back, and Gray was shot five times. He then died shortly after while in the back of an ambulance on his way to the hospital.

Ultimately Gray killed 13 people in total, including 4 children aged 6-11. 3 people were wounded, including two children who were shot and survived.

Aftermath Of The Aramoana Massacre

In the days after the Shooting, residents of Aramoana burned down David Gray’s house.

Many victims and survivors were awarded medals for bravery. Those awarded included Sergeant Stewart Guthrie and Ms Helen Dickson who called the emergency services and consoled a victim who had been shot.

The mass shooting was heavily reported on and called into question gun ownership in New Zealand. Following the Aramoana Massacre, firearms legislation was changed in New Zealand to put stricter controls on gun ownership.

At the time, the Aramoana Massacre was the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand until the Christchurch Mosque Shootings (learn more about that later in this blog post).

There is a memorial located in Aramoana that is dedicated to the victims of the massacre. We visited the memorial when we visited Aramoana and we found it to be very moving. It is a sombre reminder of what happened in an otherwise New Zealand paradise.

True Crime Podcast and Movie About The Aramoana Massacre

• The events of this massacre were made into the 2006 movie ‘Out of the Blue’. 
• The Aramoana shooting was explored and detailed in Case 23 of True Crime New Zealand podcast.

6. The Bain Family Murders (1994) – Troubled Family Killed By ‘The Devil’ But Son Spared

The second largest city in New Zealand’s South Island is Dunedin. Dunedin is an incredibly wet and rainy city, with steep hills, a strong counter-cultural and multi-cultural presence and incredible beaches.

In 1988, the Bain family moved from Papua New Guinea to Anderson’s Bay, a small neighbourhood in the east of Dunedin.

It would be six years later on the 20th of June 1994 inside their squalid and dilapidated troubled family home that all members of the troubled Bain family would be found shot to death – excluding the eldest son, David.

Allegations Of Incest & Devil In Disguise

Unusually all the family were present in the house that day as they were going to attend a family meeting. The meeting was allegedly to discuss the ongoing incestual relations between father Robin and daughter Laniet.

Between this, mother Margaret’s unorthodox belief systems (eg. She believed the demon Belial was in control of her husband Robin) and the ongoing marital troubles, there were evidently a lot of deep-rooted problems within the Bain family.

“They’re All Dead”

Eldest son David (aged 22) called 111 early that morning and told the operator “They’re All Dead” (you can listen to his 111 call on YouTube). Five days later, David was charged with the murders of his whole family.

David insisted that it was his father Robin who had murdered his whole family, but had spared David because he was the favourite and deserved to live.

Trail Of David Bain

David’s defence case claimed that Robin killed the family and then killed himself.

The prosecution alleged that it was David who killed everyone, but the motive was unclear.

There was a lot of conflicting evidence and evidence that New Zealand Police allegedly mishandled in this case.

A trial led to David being convicted of the crimes in 1995. But he was later acquitted after a retrial in 2009 following a successful appeal to the Privy Council.

What Happened To David Bain? And Did He Do It?

David Bain changed his name and went on to lead a relatively normal life with a wife and children of his own.

New Zealand public opinion remains deeply divided on whether David Bain was guilty or innocent.

True Crime Podcasts About The Bain Family Murders

• Episodes 288 and 289 of the RedHanded Podcast  delve further into the Bain Family events.
• The 12 part Podcast Black Hands by Stuff is a well produced and highly detailed series on this case which is also worth listening to.

7. The Disappearance Of Olivia Hope & Ben Smart (1998) – Never Seen Again After New Years Eve Party

A little bit outside of Blenheim, there’s a beautiful ten-minute seaside walk that brings you to a secret beach named ‘Monkey Bay’. A short way along this trail is a viewpoint and a bench that’s inscribed with a dedication to Olivia Hope.

Not being from New Zealand we had never heard of Olivia Hope or Ben Smart. After reading the inscription on the bench I was intrigued and after searching online I learned about the disappearance of Olivia Hope and Ben Smart.

Marlborough Sounds New Years Eve Party

In December 1997, friends Olivia Hope (aged 17) and Ben Smart (aged 21), two young New Zealanders, attended an infamous New Years Party. It was a party held every year at Furneaux Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds. 

It was about 4 am and the party had wound down. They’d both had a good time and were heading to bed on the boat ‘Tamarack’ that Olivia had arrived on. However, when they boarded they found someone else was sleeping in their allocated berths so they went to seek other options.

Last Sighting Of Friends With Mystery Man

They called over a passing water taxi driven by Guy Wallace, a bartender who had been working at the party. He already had 3 other passengers onboard and offered them a lift.

On the boat, Olivia and Ben met a strange man who invited them to stay on his yacht. Wallace says he dropped off the three of them on the mystery man’s ketch. This would be the last confirmed sighting of Olivia and Ben.

Over the days following Olivia and Ben’s disappearance, a number of people claimed to have seen a young woman resembling around the Marlborough Sounds area. However, the accuracy of these sightings is disputed.

Local Man Convicted Of Murder

Scott Watson, a man who was in attendance at the party and had prior criminal convictions, was convicted of their murders, despite the lack of direct physical evidence.

He has consistently maintained his innocence and filed multiple appeals.

One point of contention being that his boat was a sloop and not a ketch.

Aftermath Of Olivia & Ben’s Disappearance

The case remains controversial, with ongoing debates over Watson’s guilt and the reliability of the prosecution’s case.

There are many issues with how the New Zealand Police handled the case, including forensic evidence. Witnesses say they were forced to lie to help convict Watson and others say the Police manipulated them into mistakenly identifying him.

Olivia Hope’s family have said that they are unhappy with the investigation and believe that they still have not uncovered the truth of what happened to their daughter.

Olivia and Ben’s bodies have never been found.

True Crime Podcast About Olivia & Ben Hope’s Disappearance

• A complete and comprehensive look at the factors and the evidence for and against Scott Watson is detailed in Episode 62 of the Evidence Locker podcast.

8. The Murder of Kayo Matsuzawa (1998) – Corpse In Centre Court Closet 

In 1998, Japanese tourist Kayo Matsuzawa (aged 29) planned one last New Zealand adventure before returning home. Matsuzawa had arrived in Christchurch the previous year on a Working Holiday.

In September 1998, she ventured north and checked into the Queen Street Backpackers Hostel on Fort St, Auckland near the waterfront.

Matsuzawa left the hostel to explore the city, but she never returned. The last sighting of her was on a CCTV camera outside a high street bank shortly after she checked into the hostel.

Discovery Of Matsuzawa

Her unclothed and decomposing body was found eleven days later in a maintenance closet inside an office building. The ‘Centre Court Building’ was located on Queen Street in Auckland’s CBD, near the hostel.

Matsuzawa’s passport was later found in a nearby public rubbish bin, but her clothes and the jewellery she was wearing at the time of her disappearance were never recovered.

It was believed that she had only been in the city for a few hours before she met her confident and manipulative attacker who targeted her and spiked her drink.

DNA Evidence In Cold Case

In 2018 it was reported that DNA of an unknown male was identified under her fingernails, something that wasn’t possible with the technological limitations at the time of the murder. Police said they had a new suspect that they were investigating.

True Crime Podcast About Kayo Matsuzawa

• You can learn more about Kayo’s murder on the Coffee and Crime podcast

9. Cris & Cru Kahui (2006) – Baby Twins Shocking Deaths

Cris and Cru Kahui were twins born prematurely in March 2006 though a third sibling didn’t survive the caesarian birth. The twins spent the first six weeks of their life in the neonatal intensive care unit at Middlemore Hospital, Auckland.

During this time, nurses and social workers raised concerns that the twins’ mother Macsyna Pono King and father Christopher Sonny Kahui rarely visited and spent only short periods with the babies.

On June 13th 2006, the babies’ mother King found the children covered in bruises after being in the care of their grandfather who had attempted CPR on them.

King and Kahui took the infants to the GP who ordered them to be hospitalised immediately. Kahui was reluctant to do so, so King took the infants to the hospital without him. 

Evidence Of Tragic Child Abuse

Upon admittance to the hospital, the doctors discovered both infants had severe brain injuries and fractured skulls resulting from blunt force trauma. Baby Cris had a fractured femur – a break so severe it could reportedly only have been caused by deliberately bending the bone to a 90-degree angle, ruling out accidental injury.

On June 18th 2006, Cris and Cru were taken off life support and subsequently died.

Their deaths sparked an investigation that brought intense media scrutiny to their family, particularly their father, Chris Kahui, who was left caring for the boys at the time of their injuries.

What Happened After The Deaths Of Babies Cris & Cru

This case highlighted significant concerns about child abuse, neglect, and family violence in modern New Zealand. These issues remain prevalent even 100 years after the hanging of the aforementioned Minnie Dean.

Chris Kahui was ultimately charged with the murder of his sons, but would later be acquitted in 2008 due to insufficient evidence.

The case remains one of New Zealand’s most disturbing examples of unresolved child abuse.

True Crime Podcast About The Kahui Twins Death

• The deaths of Kris and Cru Kahui is detailed thoroughly on Episode 16 of the Casefile podcast. This is an older episode of Casefile which is still a great listen despite its rougher edges compared to new episodes.

10. The Murder Of Grace Millane (2018) – Backpacking Dream Ends With Tragic Tinder Date

Grace Millane (aged 21), a British woman, came to New Zealand on a two-week backpacking trip on November 20th 2018. She was on a gap year travelling around the world.

After arriving in New Zealand she had travelled around Northland and from November 20th she was staying at the Base Backpackers Hostel in the Auckland CBD.

On her birthday, December 2nd, her parents in the UK began to grow concerned as she hadn’t responded to her birthday wishes. Three days later they reported her missing to the New Zealand Police.

Investigation & Arrest

On December 8th, after studying CCTV footage of the hotel, the police took a man named Jesse Kempson into custody.

He was later charged with Grace’s murder.

Grace’s body was recovered west of Auckland in the Waitākere ranges the next day on December 9th.

What Happened To Grace Millane?

It was revealed that Grace had met Jesse Kempson (aged 26) through the Tinder dating app. Millane was last seen on CCTV at the CityLife Hotel on Queens Street with Kempson. At the hotel, he strangled her to death. In the following days, he rented a car and then moved her body in a large suitcase to the Waitākere ranges where he buried it.

Police found a multitude of evidence to prosecute Kempson for the murder. This article with CCTV photos from Sky News shows exactly what happened to Grace in the hours before and after her murder.

After a short trial, Kempson was sentenced to life in prison on November 22nd 2019.

Aftermath Of Grace Millane’s Murder

New Zealand was shocked by the story and Millane’s disappearance and murder received worldwide media attention.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern apologised to Millane’s family on behalf of New Zealand saying, “Your daughter should have been safe here, and she wasn’t”.

Grace Millane’s family have since founded a charity called ‘Love Grace’ which supports women affected by domestic violence.

True Crime Podcast & Films About The Murder Of Grace Millane

• Grace Millane’s murder and the perpetrator are discussed further in episode 09 of the the Clueless Crimes podcast.
• TVNZ released a two-part documentary series on the case called Swipe, Match, Murder: The Disappearance of Grace Millane.
• Another documentary about the murder case called The Lie was released in April 2024 in New Zealand cinemas. In September 2024 it was released on Netflix.

11. Christchurch Mosque Shootings (2019) – Deadliest Mass Shooting In New Zealand History

Christchurch, the largest city on New Zealand’s South Island, has a small but vibrant Islam community. The Al Noor Mosque on Deans Avenue and the Linwood Islamic Centre are both central to the daily lives of Muslims living in Christchurch.

Tragically, these mosques became the sites of one of the deadliest acts of violence in New Zealand’s modern history.

What Happened At The Christchurch Mosque Shootings?

On March 15th, 2019, Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian man, carried out coordinated attacks on both mosques during Friday prayers.

Armed with semi-automatic weapons and live-streaming the attacks on Facebook, the perpetrator headed to the mosques.

Tarrant first entered the Al Noor Mosque at 1:40 pm.

There in the space of a few minutes he shot and killed 44 people and injured 35 others, predominantly men who were praying.

Tarrant then drove to the Linwood Islamic Centre, arriving at 1:52 pm, where he killed 7 more people and injured 5 more people.

Police arrived on both scenes within minutes and by 1:59 pm Tarrant was apprehended. Despite the mass shooting lasting only 19 minutes, the event left 51 people dead, 40 injured and 49 others injured by other causes in the event.

The mass shooting was described as total mayhem. Survivors described scenes of terror and bravery, as some worshippers attempted to fend off the attacker to protect others.

Terrorist Pled Guilty

In March 2020, Tarrant pled guilty to 51 murders, 40 attempted murders, and engaging in a terrorist act. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole – the first to receive this sentence in New Zealand history.

Aftermath Of The Christchurch Mosque Shootings

The attacks deeply shocked New Zealand and drew international condemnation.

In response to this attack, New Zealand introduced sweeping reforms to its gun laws, banning most semi-automatic weapons and initiating a gun buyback scheme.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was incredibly empathetic and compassionate during the aftermath. She organised a strong government response, visited the Muslim community in Christchurch, and awarded bravery medals to the police who apprehended Tarrant. Awards were also given to survivors, victims and bystanders who showed bravery and took action during the incident. Ardern also designated Tarrant a terrorist which meant his assets were frozen and supporting him financially is a criminal offence.

Today, the events of March 15th are remembered as a dark moment in New Zealand’s history.

The Islamophobic rhetoric of the attack has sparked ongoing conversations about the dangers of hate-fuelled extremism and the importance of community unity.

Social media companies are under pressure to monitor, block and ban hate-fueled photos and videos on their platforms.

Memorials have since been held in honour of the victims.

True Crime Podcast About The Christchurch Mosque Shootings

• These events and further discussion about this terrorist attack and the life of Brenton Tarrant prior to his crimes are detailed in the episode Livestreamed Crimes: The Christchurch Mosque Mass Shootings of the Once Upon A Crime podcast.
• Also episode 295 of the Redhanded Podcast is definitely worth a listen for further information.

New Zealand True Crime Podcast Playlist

Enjoyed the read? Dive into the full playlist of New Zealand true crime podcast episodes that I have curated. These true crime pods will keep you sitting upright on your own road trips across beautiful New Zealand.

Post Mortem – 11 New Zealand True Crime Cases Conclusion

We have looked at a handful of true crime cases that offer a glimpse into the strange and horrific events that have unfolded in Aotearoa New Zealand over the years, with such a relatively small population the above events have had a huge impact on the cultural psyche and become a part of New Zealand’s shared history.

While as readers and listeners we can find these events fascinating it is important to remember that these were real events that took place with real families victims. We urge readers to always remain sensitive to the people involved.

In such a small country like New Zealand it is often joked that there is only two degrees of separation. So when discussing these cases please be conscientious that you could be possibly speaking to somebody involved.

New Zealand Is A Safe & Beautiful Country To Travel

Don’t let these dark New Zealand true crime stories stop you from visiting New Zealand.

New Zealand is a beautiful country with a great reputation for hospitality , safety and a generally low crime rate.

It’s always important to be careful, especially as a backpacker in a foreign place.

Taking precautions is always key to staying safe and enjoying your journey.

• Always let someone know where you’re going, especially if you plan to head out alone.
• Consider sharing your location with a trusted friend or family member and meet new acquaintances in public places.
• Trust your instincts, and if something feels off, don’t ignore it.

All effort has been made to provide the correct information to each of these cases. If you believe there is an error or a factual inaccuracy please feel free to reach out or leave a comment below and we will amend the information.

This blog post was researched and written by Fiachra and edited by Lauren.

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