HONORA PARKER/RIEPER - PAULINE PARKER - JULIET HULME - THE MURDER OF HONORA PARKER/RIEPER

                             A BUDDING FRIENDSHIP

1952 - In the middle of the year - Pauline Parker strikes up a friendship with Juliet Mason Hulme,
          the daughter of Dr. Henry Hulme (English physicist) and Hilda Hulme. Juliet had been
          diagnosed as a child with tuberculosis. As part of her treatment, she was sent to the
         Carribean and South Africa.

          When Dr. Hulme took up the position as Rector of the University of Canterbury (New
          Zealand), Juliet rejoins her family. She is 13.

  
Photo: Dr. Henry Hulme                       Photo: Hilda Hulme

    
  Photo: Juliet Hulme             Photo: Pauline Parker

          Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme become acquainted. Over the next year their relationship
          deepens into an "intense devotion" to one another.

                     
                     Photo: Juliet Hulme 1953

                                   A FANTASY LIFE

        Justice Adams "They kept very much to themselves, scribbled in exercise books effusions
         which they called novels, spent a good deal of time in each other's beds, and made plans
         for their future life together."
 
                       
Candace DeLong (Former FBI profiler) "Juliet's fantasy life was more intensive, and more satisfying to her than reality."
 
        Both girls lie to their parents. They conduct nocturnal forays. They shoplift from Woolworths
        (store). They assumed the persona of characters they write about, and write to each other,
        using those personas. Mrs. Hulme was concerned because at times Juliet is so wrapped up in
        her characters that she only reluctantly answers to her name, resenting being called back to
        reality. When not with Juliet, Pauline has become moody, easy to anger. She's reclusive. Both
        girls write a lot. When not together they're on the telephone until told to clear the line by their
        parents.

                                       Pauline is keeping a diary.

Both girls have been planning to go to America and sell their novels. They'd been trying by various means to obtain the money for their fares.      

                              A MARRIAGE ON THE ROCKS

        Henry Hulme and his wife's marriage is unstable. She has fallen in love with Walter Andrew
        Bowman Perry, who testified at the trial that he and Mrs. Hulme had been upfront and honest
        with Mr. Hulme about their feelings for each other.

                             MORE THAN FRIENDSHIP - AN OBSESSION

Justice Adams "Mrs. Parker became perturbed over their unhealthy relationship and tried to break it up. This interference was resented by the girls, their resentment gradually growing into hatred and eventually into this ghastly crime."

Mr. Herbert Rieper testifies "the relationship between the girls was so intense, Pauline virtually cut her parents out of her life. Dr. Hulme was asked over to the Rieper home to discuss the situation. As a result, Pauline was taken to see. Dr. F.O. Bennett."
 
1954 - Earlier in this year - Dr. Hulme decides to resign and return to England. Juliet is to
           accompany him as far as South Africa.

1954 - about Easter - Mrs. Parker contacts Dr. Hulme again, and he informs her that he would be
           leaving New Zealand in three weeks time and taking Juliet with him. Mrs. Parker/Rieper
           agrees to allow Pauline to see Juliet as much as she wished until Juliet left.

                                 BREAKING THE NEWS

          The Hulmes inform Juliet of their decision. They are separating and she will go to South
          Africa to stay with a relative. Juliet is furious. Juliet wants Pauline to go with her, and Pauline
          wishes to go with Juliet. Mrs. Parker objects, and refuses to allow it.

                        Neither Juliet nor Pauline wish to be separated.

Candace DeLong (Former FBI profiler) "She (Pauline) hated her mother. She wanted her gone."
                                                          "She didn't have an attachment to her mother."

June 12 - June 20 - Pauline stays with Juliet at her home from 11 AM Friday June 12, to the
                               afternoon of Sunday June 20. When she returns home, Pauline is friendly and
                               talkative to her parents.

                                          A FATEFUL DAY

June 22 -  Lunchtime -  Herbert Rieper goes home for lunch. Juliet Hulme is there. The two girls are
                                   happy and talking. Neither mentions Juliet's leaving. He is in and out of the
                                   shop in the afternoon until he receives a message from Victoria Park. When
                                   he arrives there, neither of the girls is there, having been taken to Juliet's
                                   home.

Herbert Rieper "She (Pauline) began to treat us with disdain, she became moody and easily moved to anger, and kept her thoughts very much to herself.

When asked at trial about Pauline's diary Herbert Rieper replies "We never looked at her diary; we did not think it was honourable to do so." 

    If they had, they would have found a blueprint for murder, Honora's murder.

                
                  Photo: Pauline Parker's Diary entry for June 22 1954

                                      MURDER MOST FOUL

       1954 - 22 June - Pauline Parkers diary entry is headed "The day of the Happy Event."
 
               Honora Parker/Rieper accompanies Juliet and Pauline on a walk in Victoria Park.
               On an isolated path Juliet walks ahead and drops an ornamental stone. She draws
               attention to it and Mrs. Parker/Rieper leans down to retrieve it. Pauline pulls out
               a stocking wrapped half brick from her bag. The girls have presumed that one
               blow from it would do the deed. Pauline begins battering her mother. Juliet also
               takes part in the bludgeoning.
 
               It takes 45 frenzied blows to kill Honora Parker/Rieper. 
 
                     Honra Parker/Rieper lies dead upon the path.
 
 
                     
                               Photo: Crime scene - the path.

  
Dr. James Bennett (Historian) "This was a particularly brutal crime." "It would take a lot of blows - the respiratory centers of the brain woujld be altered."

 
                                 THE PLAN IS CARRIED OUT

3:30 PM The girls run to the tea rooms gasping "Please help us. Mummy has been hurt - covered with blood."  After someone is sent to find Mrs. Parker/Rieper, the girls are taken home.
 
                            
                             Photo: the Tea rooms

A fe moments later, Honora Parker is found with her head battered. Due to the woman's condition, Police are called in.
 
3:50 PM Sergeant Robert William Hope receives a message at the Central police station of an
              accident and a woman being hurt.
 
4:20 PM Sergeant Hope and Constable Molyneux arrive on scene. Dr. Walker advises them not to
             allow anyone to touch the body. Half a brick wrapped in a woman's stocking was lying 15
             inches from her head. One shoe lies near her body. A sweater lies under one arm.
 
5:15 PM Dr. Walker accompanies Detective Sergeant Tate, Detective Gillies, and Constable
             Griffiths of the women's police to the body.

                           EXAMINATION & POSTMORTEM

Dr. Colin Thomas Bushby Pearson (Pathologist) - examines Honora Parker/Rieper lying on the path.

The next day he conducts a post mortem examination. He concludes the cause of death
is "shock associated with  multiple injuries to the head and fractures of the skull."

"A total of 45 discernible injuries. The lacerated wounds in her head could have been inflicted with a blunt instrument. It would have had to be wielded with considerable force. The crushing fractures
of the skull  indicated that the woman's head was immobile on the ground when the blows were struck. If the half brick produced was contained in a stocking, it would be capable of inflicting the wounds. The bruises on the neck indicated that the woman had been forcibly held by the throat, but there was no indication of throttling."

The brick showed bloodstains. The foot of a stocking had hairs on it which were  the same in texture of  those taken from the hair of the dead woman.  The stocking was bloodstained and knotted near the ankle.

There was a stream of blood had flowed down the hill and congealed. Her lower denture was lying near her jaw. Her stockings were mud stained with perhaps some blood stains. Both arms were mud and blood stained.

                                           INVESTIGATION
 
          Juliet and Pauline are at Juliet's parent's home. Mrs. Hulme is giving the girls a bath.
          Their bloodied clothing is lying on the floor outside of the bath. Mr. Walter Andrew
          Bowman Perry takes the clothing to the laundry, where he later directs police to the
          clothing.
 
                                    PAULINE'S STORY

Walter Andrew Bowman Perry "She (Pauline) said that her mother had fallen and hit her head on a stone. She told me that her mother had hit her head repeatedly on the stone and demonstrated how she did it. I asked her what the stone was like and she said she thought it was half a brick. When I asked if her mother had had a fit, she said she did not know. She became very distressed. I asked her if she had quarrelled with her mother and had been defending herself from a blow, but she replied: Oh, no. My mother has never hit me. They had tried to pick mother up Pauline said, but had dropped her and thought that they might have hurt her more then." "They felt for heart beats but could not feel any so they ran for help to the kiosk she told me."

       
        Photo: Walter Perry

                                   JULIET'S STORY

What kind of statement did the girl Hulme give of the incident?

Walter Perry "A very similar one to that given by Pauline." "I felt there was more that could be told." 

Detectives tell him details and that it must be murder. Perry is allowed to question Juliet.

Walter Perry "I said she must tell the truth, it could not have been an accident, and there was far more to it. After a few minutes she broke down and told me the story told later to Detective Tate."

The Detectives enter the room, and Dr. Hulme and Walter Perry are present when Juliet Hulme's first statement to police is made. The next morning Senior Detective Brown arrives and Walter Perry is present when Det. Brown tells Juliet "the information I have received was that Juliet had been present when the alleged accident happened."  Juliet had said in her statement the previous night that "she was not present."

Senior Det. Brown "Before the meeting with Juliet, I had a talk with Dr. Hulme. After hearing the girl's story he asked her "Are you telling the truth? We have reason to believe you were not there when the fatality occurred."   She seemed to hesitate and Mr. Perry said "would you men mind if I had a talk with her on my own? We thought this was a good suggestion and we left the room. Later she gave a statement to Detective Sergeant Tate."
 
We went to the girl Parker's room and I said "We have reason to believe Juliet was not with you
when the fatality occurred." She was taken aback. I then said to her "You are suspected of having murdered your mother. You need not say anything, as anything you may say may be taken down in writing and used in evidence against you."  She did not reply. I then asked her to tell me what happened. Parker said "no, you ask me questions."
 
"Juliet was anxious to know what the girl Parker had said. He told her that Pauline Parker had said that if the two of them were allowed to get together and discuss it, Juliet Hulme would say anything she said."

The question and answer session with Pauline Parker is admitted into evidence.

Sergeant Detective McDonald Brown "She (Pauline) told us that she and her mother and the girl Hulme had been to Victoria Park. After afternoon tea at the kiosk they walked down the path to the end of it and were returning.  The girl Hulme was leading, she came next and her mother followed about a foot behind. Her mother seemed to slip and fall and her head seemed to toss up and down hitting the stones."

She added "I saw half a brick there." Her mother made some sounds, but she did not know what her mother said."  "They then ran to the kiosk and told the people there that her mother was dead." Detective Sgt. Tate asked "How did you know she was dead?" And she replied: The blood.
There was a lot of it. When I asked if she had seen a stocking there she seemed to be taken aback.
Then she said "we did not take mother's stockings off. I was wearing sockettes. Then she added:
I had a stocking in my bag. We wiped blood with it."

                                             ARREST

Pauline Yvonne Parker (16), and Juliet Marion Hulme (15 years 10 months) are charged with the murder of Honora Parker/Rieper.
 
                                     
                                      Photo: Pauline Parker arrest photo
 
 
              
                               
 

                                               TRIAL
1954 - August 29 -
       Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme pled Not Guilty. Witnesses and police testify. Evidence is
       presented.  The diary of Pauline Parker is presented.

                         
                         Photo: Pauline Parker (left) Juliet Hulme (right)

The court prosecutor called the crime a "coldly, callously-planned murder committed by two highly intelligent and sane but precocious and dirty-minded little girls."

                                        INSANITY DEFENSE

The counsel for both girls hang their defense upon insanity and present psychiatrists to prove their point.
 
Dr. Bennett testifying for the Defense "The girls suffer from paranoia, delusions of grandeur, and
delusions of ecstasy. Each affects the other and aggravates the progress of the disease."
They are a couple of homosexual paranoics of the elated type. Obeying the law was an intellectual thing, but emotion was more persuasive than intellect. The girls thought they were morally right, or at least not wrong; that by killing Mrs. Parker they were transferring an unhappy woman to heaven and also preserving the integrity of their own association."
 
                       
                        Photo: Juliet Hulme (left) Pauline Parker (right)
 

Dr. Kenneth Robert Stallworthy (Psychiatrist) is one of three called who rebutted the defense's claim that the girls were insane. "Both were sane." At the time of the death of Mrs. Parker they knew the nature of right and wrong."

                                           VERDICT
      The jury does not buy into the defense claim that the girls were insane. They deem them GUILTY.

                                         SENTENCING
 
Newspaper Reports "Parker, standing on the far side of the dock from the jury box looked impassively ahead. Hulme however, scanned the faces of the jury, and for a moment perhaps, there was a touch of anxiety in her expression. A smile playing around her lips disappeared. She turned to the front and looked straight ahead."
 
"Each prisoner was asked if she had anything to say but neither responded. Instead their counsel said there was nothing they could add to the evidence of the court. The prisoners, who were showing no signs of emotion were then sentenced."
 
Justice Adams "You both being held to be under the age of 18, the sentence of the court is detention at her Majesty's pleasure. That sentence is passed upon each of you."
 
Under New Zealand law at the time, both Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme were under the age of 18 and were excluded from being considered for the death penalty.  The sentence meant that they were to be detained (indefinitely) at the discretion of the Minister of Justice.
 
Newspaper Reports "As the girls left the court Parker stared straight ahead. Hulme looked to the side, but her mother, Mrs. Hulme apparently did not see her. Mrs. Hulme's eyes were closed."

Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme were detained by order of the Executive Council in separate penal institutions.
   

                                 RELEASE FROM PRISON
     5 (five) years later both Parker and Hulme are released separately.

     A condition of their release is that they are never to meet or contact each other again.

 1994 - A film and a play is made of the case called "Heavenly Creatures" - Heavenly Creatures is
          a reference to themselves from the verse of a poem penned by Pauline Parker.

        Juliet Hulme objects to the portrayal of her and Pauline Parker as lesbians.

                           WHAT HAPPENED TO PARKER & HULME?

 1997 -  Excerpt:  London Daily Mail, Jan. 6, 1997 (p. 17)
    "A woman who killed her mother in a crime that shocked the world has been living
    in an English village for more than 30 years. Pauline Parker was one of two teenage friends    
   sentenced to 5 years in jail for the murder in New Zealand, which was depicted in the 1995 film 
   Heavenly Creatures, starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey."
 
    "Parker, 57, was freed from prison after serving six years of her sentence. She studied at
    Auckland University, graduating with a BA before training as a librarian and moving to Britain
    in 1965. She settled in Kent, retrained as a teacher, and taught mentally handicapped children at
   Abbey Court special school in Strood until her retirement three years ago, by which time she had
   become deputy headmistress.  She is now running a children's riding school at Hoo, near
   Rochester, Kent, under the name of  Hilary Nathan is a reclusive, devout woman who attends a
   local Roman Catholic church every day without fail. Before retiring two years ago to run the  
  riding school, Miss Nathan was deputy Headmistress at Abbey Court School for children with
  special needs in nearby Strood."
                   
                   Photo: Hilary Nathan (Pauline Parker)

      Pauline's sister Wendy (New Zealand) "She has led a good life and is very remorseful for
       what she's done. She committed the most terrible crime and has spent 40 years repaying it by
      keeping away from people and doing her own little thing." "She has never spoken to me about
      the details of the way she took our mother's life. Well it was absolutely overboard, wasn't it?
     The story is: they met, they were ill-fated and they committed a dreadful crime."

      
Juliet Hulme -  "After her release, Juliet was whisked away to England by her family. She later
became a flight attendant. At one point Juliet lived in the United States, where she joined The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.(Mormons).  Juliet then settled in Scotland, living with her mother in the village of Portmahomack.
 
                  
                   Photo: Julie Hulme 
 
Dr. Hulme had a distinguished scientific career, heading the British hydrogen bomb programme."

Juliet assumes the surname of her stepfather, Walter Perry and becomes "Anne Perry."

The author "Anne Perry" who writes historical murder mysteries and detective fiction. 
                           
                           Photo: Anne Perry (author) (Juliet Hulme)

1979 - "Anne Perry" releases her first novel "The Cater Street Hangman." Perry writes historical
          murder mysteries and detective fiction.
    
           Perry has had no contact with Pauline Parker aka Hilary Nathan and indeed was taken
           aback at learning she was in England.

 Anne Perry "I have tried to forget what happened and as a mature woman, believe I have long since paid my dues."