Double-murder case: Court cleared amid outbursts, victims named

News
Crime

Author: Craig Kapitan,
Publish Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2026, 11:11am

A judge cleared a court today after loud outbursts punctuated a brief hearing in which a man denied killing two people in Wattle Downs.

The defendant, a 30-year-old from Drury, has interim name suppression.

However, suppression has lapsed for the two people who died: Keagan Desmond Bell and Elaine Beatrice Rudolph.

An elderly man yelled abuse at the defendant as he entered the dock this morning for his first appearance in the High Court at Auckland.

A woman next to the man in the courtroom gallery placed her hand over the man’s mouth as the outburst attracted Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith’s attention.

“You are entitled to be here,” the judge explained. “I do not want to close this court. If you want to see what happens, you’ll have to be able to calm yourself.”

Justice Wilkinson-Smith took not guilty pleas to two counts of murder through defence lawyer Bradley Moyer and set a trial date for September next year before remanding the defendant back into custody.

“That’s enough,” the judge told the gallery, as verbal abuse erupted as the defendant left the dock.

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 in August 2027. Photo / Michael Craig

She ordered the court cleared, but those in attendance for the appearance were already leaving.

Outside the courtroom, the crowd of onlookers could be heard yelling at each other: “Get f***ed” and “F*** you”.

Police found Bell and Rudolph dead at a Gambare Place property in Wattle Downs on August 27. Authorities had received reports of a person armed with a handgun at the property.

Both deceased had fatal gunshot wounds, authorities later reported.

Keagan Bell and Elaine Rudolph were found dead at a property in Wattle Downs, South Auckland, in August 2026.

“I can confirm we are speaking with a 30-year-old man who is currently in custody,” Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Va’aelua said in a statement to the media the day after the shooting.

The man was charged with two counts of murder four days later.

The defendant’s name was suppressed at his first appearance in Manukau District Court earlier this month.

Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith ordered the courtroom cleared. Photo / Michael Craig

Tributes for the victims have been posted online describing Rudolph as a “beautiful soul been taken too soon” and “so talented, funny and straight up”.

Bell grew up in Māngere, where one mourner described him as “mischief, sporty and a cool bro in our youngin/teenager days”.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.