Murder Most Foul #2 in a series

I could add Scott Watson, and  David Tamihere, as cases that raise eyebrows.

Scott Watson currently serving time for the murder of Ben Hope and Olivia Smart. There appears to be so much wrong with the case, with no bodies and identification of the offending boat difficult to ascertain.  In deed there are mystery men, secret witnesses and all the associated conspiracy.

David Tamihere, convicted in 1990 of the double murder of Heidi Paakonaan and Urban Hoglan. The body of Urban was found nearly a year later, but not that of Heidi. Tamihere is currently on release as he's terminally ill.

These are cases that test the patience of many people. I've no first hand knowledge of either of Watson or Tamihere, but I have enough faith to say that if they weren't inside for this these crimes they would be for another.  However being a bad sort shouldn't be enough of a reason to be in prison. And you'd think that with the high profile re-trial of Bain that Watson and Tamihere would at least be mounting a charge. As far as I am aware they aren't.

Tamihere will take his secret to the grave with him, Watson will get out of prison, take up on his boat again and live out his life. Or at least we can hope. Having done time they've paid their price. It might not be closure to the parents and friends but it is what we call justice served.

If you could get away with committing one crime, what would you do?

in the darkness of the evening who  wouldn't have thought alongs these lines.

Perhaps it's the bazillion dollar robbery, or perhaps it's a murder.

Most murders, not all, are committed by acquaintances or are people known to each other in some way. Not all. Of course murder is fascinating. As is death. But committing the perfect crime? I used to read a lot of non-fiction books about serial killers and about cases of murder. Most of them of course are about known killers.

There are books about unsolved murders. There are indeed unsolved murders a quick google finds these;

• The Kirsty Bentley Murder Case. Kirsty Bentley's murder and the ongoing police investigation.


• Jennifer Mary Beard. On the last day of 1969, Jennifer Beard was brutally murdered and left under a bridge in a remote part of the South Island. Despite an intensive investigation the identity of her murderer has never been ascertained.


• Ray Mills.  Ray Mills, entrepreneur, was brutally attacked and left for dead, in a case that was never solved.


• Kirsa Jensen. Kirsa Jensen's disappearance is still one of New Zealand's biggest unsolved cases.


• Albert Anderson. Albert was found murdered in his own home in 1983

And there are plenty of missing people. People that drop out for one reason or another, sometimes on their own, sometimes assisted. But a perfect murder? If you're dark enough to be thinking about it then you'd have contemplated it. What you may not have thought about is would it be enough. Would one be enough. It would be like stealing the mona lisa and having it locked away so only you could see it. It might bring you pleasure but not to be able to share?

In a country like New Zealand, sparsely populated and lots of wilderness it lends itself to a notion that you could hide a lot of things in the bush. Perhaps you could. The one off murder most foul.

I'm sure that the police have a strong idea, or suspect in mind for each of the above cases, and a fair few of the missing people reports where they suspect foul play. After all it's pretty unusual for someone to out an murder someone just like that, and carry on their lives. I'd bet that there have been the totally random out of the blue murders that haven't been or can't be solved because they are random, with a couple of billion people on the planet and a few thousand years of history I think I'm onto a winner with that thought.

So would it be that idea of a perfect crime of murder, or would it be the thought that in New Zealand that there are so few murders, that getting away with murder would be the thing that rocked your boat?

I might be pretty naive but I'm leaning towards that the police got the right person for the Bain's, Smart and Hope, paakkonen and hoogland, and the Lundy cases. And if you're contemplating, in your dark hours, the perfect murder, you'd better keep thinking.