A Judge has ordered the name release of the Kāpiti woman charged with the murder of her 79 year old mother Helen Gregory in Khandallah earlier this year.
Justice Karen Grau has denied Julia DeLuney of Paraparaumu permanent name suppression. Her name, and her husband’s Antonio DeLuney – who does not face charges, but had also sought name suppression – were kept secret until now to allow the family to prepare for it being made public.
Following the death a published family notice described Mrs Gregory as a dearly loved mother, mother-in-law, and treasured grandmother.
At the time Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Leitch said a 52-year-old woman had been taken into custody, charged with murder in relation to Mrs Gregory’s death.
He said the investigation had led police to search the Porirua landfill after they believed items were discarded there by a person of interest in the hours after Gregory’s death.
Julia DeLuney is a teacher who lives in Paraparaumu, court documents showed. She and her husband have been living together at their home while she has been on electronically monitored bail, Justice Grau’s judgment says.
The Crown alleges it was “a brutal and financially motivated murder.” DeLuney has pleaded not guilty to murder and obtaining thousands of dollars by deception
Justice Grau disagreed with DeLuney’s lawyer’s argument there would be a “firestorm” of media coverage about the case.
In Justice Grau’s judgment details are revealed about what the Crown alleges.
The Crown alleges that Julia DeLuney deceived her mother into giving her $15,000. It said she then went to her mother’s house on 24 January and murdered her. The Crown said Julia DeLuney “attacked her with significant, and ultimately fatal, force”.
The Crown says Antonio DeLuney called Julia DeLuney that evening and asked when she would be home.
After that, Julia DeLuney is alleged to have left her mother’s house and driven home, before returning to the house with her husband.
“Mr DeLuney, when confronted by the scene, called 111 and performed CPR until ambulance staff arrived and took over,” the judgment said.
Julia DeLuney in July pleaded not guilty to murder and obtaining thousands of dollars by deception.
The judgment says prior to her mother’s death, Julia DeLuney had spent seven years trading cryptocurrency.
She described facing significant mental health issues since the onset of menopausal symptoms in 2022, and suffered from poor sleep, panic attacks and persistent low mood..
She was currently taking an antidepressant, and had a history of anxiety and chronic low mood, depending on alcohol in her 20s – though she no longer drank.
Mr DeLuney is expected to be a Crown witness at trial which is set down for June next year. There is no suggestion he was involved in his wife’s alleged crimes.
Julia DeLuney’s lawyer, Hunter de Groot, fought to keep her name secret at a hearing in September.
Justice Grau’s judgment said Antonio DeLuney reported being under extreme stress “from the traumatic scene of his mother-in-law’s death”, the impending trial, and the prospect of his name being made public.
His lawyer, Sam Campbell, said revealing his name may make people think he was connected to the alleged murder.
But neither of the DeLuneys’ mental health issues – or the argument that they might worsen if their names were made public – was a reason to grant name suppression because they did not meet the threshold of extreme hardship, Justice Grau said in her Judgement.
Publication of Antonio DeLuney’s name was not likely to cast suspicion on him, she wrote. “There is no allegation that Mr DeLuney had anything to do with his wife’s alleged offending.”
