'Dictator': Mother of Marokopa children speaks out on Tom Phillips

Author: NZ Herald ,
Publish Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2026, 11:51am

Cat Christey has spoken publicly for the first time since her children were found. Photo / Michael Craig

The mother of the Marokopa children has described the abuse she suffered from Tom Phillips, saying the former fugitive was a “dictator” who kicked her out of home after twice calling police on him.

Cat Christey described his controlling nature, fascination with firearms and her struggles with police in an interview with RNZ’s Mata.

Christey also said she objected to the Netflix documentary about the case.

Phillips evaded custody, with his three young children, for nearly four years. During that time he defied a court order and engaged in various crimes, including bank robbery and stealing vehicles.

The former fugitive died in the early hours of September 8 2025, after entering into a shootout with police, during which he critically injured an officer.

In the first public interview since her children were found, Christey told Mata she was “dead set against” the Netflix documentary but Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders said police did not need her permission.

“[Saunders] told me they didn’t need my permission, that they were just letting me know.”

She found out about the shooting and the discovery of her children after the documentary crew was told by police, she said.

And Christey learned police had not decided to charge anyone in relation to assisting the former fugitive through media reports.

She told Mata how she felt disregarded by police throughout the case and was denied support as she was not considered a victim of crime.

Victim Support contacted police after Christey reached out to ask for help with her counselling and was told nothing could be done, she said.

Tom Phillips went missing along with his three children in 2021. Photo / NZ Police

A spokesperson for Manaaki Tāngata Victim Support told RNZ it could not comment on individual cases.

In response to Christey’s allegations, Detective Inspector Ross McKay declined to comment on specifics.

A number of the matters asked about are subject to a government inquiry, making it inappropriate to comment, McKay told RNZ.

Phillips was a good provider but a controlling partner who would dictate her finances, who she saw and when she saw them, and who would take her car keys away from her.

Christey told RNZ how Phillips would slap her, and, on one occasion, strangled her, although she described him as not ”extremely violent”.

“His views on what a marriage should be were different to my own. We should have been a team. But there was no room for compromise; it was his way or the highway,” she told RNZ.

“And he liked to be in control; he was a dictator.”

Christey said Phillips had a fascination with guns, and she twice called 111 about it.

Phillips took the phone off her and hung up both times.

Christey said she believed police would come, but they did not.

He kicked her out of their home afterwards, she said.

She would not come back, despite repeated pleas from Phillips, RNZ reported.