'Those poor babies': Children among 16 dead in 47 days amid spate of violence

Sixteen people dead in 47 days.

A spate of violence involving multiple-person homicide incidents, suspected murder-suicides, and several other serious attacks has left communities on edge.

The victims include young children, and some of the tragedies appear to involve family violence.

Experts and community leaders told the Herald the killings may reflect a rise in families wrestling with financial stress, and the failure to support and treat people with serious mental health and addiction problems.

“Those poor babies,” South Auckland councillor Lotu Fuli said yesterday after police named two children who died alongside their father in Papatoetoe last week.

“It’s so tragic. I was hoping it wasn’t involving children.”

Fuli said the father, Edward Courtenay James Neville, 40, was a member of the local Cosmopolitan Club and a community volunteer.

The Papatoetoe community held a karakia near the family’s house on Monday morning “to move forward and deal with this tragedy and the grief that people must be feeling”.

Police forensic specialists carry out investigations following the discovery of three bodies at a house in Cambridge Terrace, Papatoetoe. Photo / Michael Craig

Fuli believed wider societal problems were fuelling violence.

People with mental health and addiction issues were being released back into the community because there was nowhere else for them to go, leading to crisis situations, she said.

“And then they cause harm to themselves or to others. I think that’s what we’re seeing.

“I feel like it’s getting worse but it has been trending up for a long, long time. We’re playing catch-up and we as a country haven’t committed to doing more.”

Police research shows New Zealand’s homicide rate has averaged around 70 per year across the past two decades or so. Some of the violent deaths in the past six weeks aren’t homicides, or won’t be ruled as such until authorities complete their investigations. Despite that, Herald analysis shows the recent spate of killings appears to be unusual and is tracking above that long-term average.

University of Canterbury Emeritus Professor in criminology Greg Newbold said violent incidents often happened in clusters without any obvious causes. It was too early to describe the recent killings as a trend.

However, some of the crimes were likely to be domestic-related, Newbold said.

“Crimes such as these tend to increase during times of social stress, and at the present, a lot of people are undergoing financial stress as a result of rising living costs and gas prices.”

Police have been contacted for comment.

A timeline of tragedy

Two people – one of them a baby – were critically injured early on Monday morning in a stabbing at a family home in Glendene, West Auckland. A woman has been charged with attempted murder.

That violence followed a series of incidents since mid-August that have claimed at least 16 lives.

On August 19, a couple were found dead in a makeshift shack in Gisborne. The man, 59, and woman, 42, had been given two weeks to leave the land, which was part of a road reserve. Police have released limited information on the circumstances and, in their most recent statement, were treating the deaths as unexplained.

On August 27, two people were shot dead at a Gambare Place property in South Auckland’s Wattle Downs. They were Keagan Desmond Bell and Elaine Beatrice Rudolph. A 30-year-old man has been charged with their murders.

A man with name suppression appears in the High Court at Auckland, accused of murdering Keagan Bell and Elaine Rudolph at a Wattle Downs property. Photo / Michael Craig

On September 4, two people died in a suspected murder-suicide in Tahunanui, Nelson. They have been named as Nicola Yvonne Perry, 48, and Brendon James Perry, 49.

On September 8, Rotorua was rocked by a triple homicide in High St, Glenholme. A woman and two children died in the incident. A man has been charged with assault.

On September 29, two people were found dead at separate addresses near Reefton. They have been named as Chelsey Anne Russell, 34, of Maimai and Samuel Frederick, 45.

On September 30, Sarah Megan Brown, 36, was found dead in a Christchurch flat at Edgeware. A 52-year-old man has been charged with her murder.

On October 1, a man was shot dead in Glen Innes. A 32-year-old Auckland man has been charged with murder.

Also on October 1, two children and their father were found dead at a home in Papatoetoe. They were named yesterday as Dahlia, 6, Hunter, 9, and the father, Neville.

This list is not exhaustive but includes some of the highest-profile incidents reported during the past 47 days.

‘Escalating coercive control’

Mira Taitz is a programme lead for DVFREE and senior trainer at specialist domestic violence service Shine.

Taitz said it was a distressing time for families and communities impacted by the recent spate of deaths.

New Zealand had high rates of family violence, with one-in-three women experiencing physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime, and one-in-two experiencing psychological abuse.

Family violence deaths often had certain factors in common, Taitz said.

“One of these is a pattern of escalating coercive control, featuring isolation, threats, intimidation, monitoring and stalking, among other behaviours.

“Another commonality is that the person may have ended the abusive relationship, prior to being killed. Also, it is not unusual for there to be post-separation abuse that involves children or family court processes.”

She said it would be rare for mental health to be the underlying driving factor in an intimate partner violence death. Mental health was usually an exacerbating factor, where there was a pre-existing pattern of coercive control.

Family violence deaths were often “femicides”, the killing of a woman by a male partner, “filicides”, where the children were killed too, or murder-suicides, where the person using violence also took their own life.

Poverty could exacerbate family violence but was not its driving cause, Taitz said.

“We know that families are feeling the strain at the moment because of reduced services. This can make help-seeking very difficult, which can make things worse.”

Woman's Refuge chief executive Naomi Ogg.

The National Strategy to Eliminate Family and Sexual Violence, Te Aorerekura, recognised that “rigid harmful gender norms”, including deep-seated entitlement to control a female partner, as well as colonisation, were underlying drivers of family violence in New Zealand, Taitz said.

Women’s Refuge chief executive Naomi Ogg said the recent number of deaths and serious incidents across Aotearoa was deeply concerning.

“Our thoughts are with the whānau and communities affected by these tragedies,” Ogg said.

While it was important not to draw conclusions about common causes across the cases before all details were known, Women’s Refuge said family violence remained a serious issue across the country.

“Our message to anyone who is worried about violence in their home or relationship is that help is available.”

HOW TO GET HELP

If you’re in danger NOW:

• Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours of friends to ring for you• Run outside and head for where there are other people• Scream for help so that your neighbours can hear you• Take the children with you• Don’t stop to get anything else• If you are being abused, remember it’s not your fault. Violence is never okay

Where to go for help or more information:

• Women’s Refuge: Free national crisisline operates 24/7 - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 www.womensrefuge.org.nz• Shine, free national helpline 9am- 11pm every day - 0508 744 633 www.2shine.org.nz • It’s Not Ok: Information line 0800 456 450 www.areyouok.org.nz • Shakti: Providing specialist cultural services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and their children. Crisisline 24/7 0800 742 584• Ministry of Justice: www.justice.govt.nz/family-justice/domestic-violence • National Network of Stopping Violence: www.nnsvs.org.nz • White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men’s violence towards women, focusing this year on sexual violence and the issue of consent. www.whiteribbon.org.nz

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Lane Nichols is Auckland Desk Editor and a senior journalist for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.