Christchurch cold case murder trial: Pair deny killing Angela Blackmoore in 1995

David Hawken and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum both deny murdering Angela Blackmoore (inset) and are standing trial at the High Court in Christchurch. Photo / George Heard

Two people have today denied involvement in the 1995 killing of a pregnant Christchurch woman in what has long been one of New Zealand’s most infamous cold-case murders.

Angela Maree Blackmoore, 21, was brutally killed inside her Vancouver Crescent home on August 17, 1995, while her 2-year-old son slept in the next room.

The case went unsolved for more than two decades before Jeremy Crinis James Powell was arrested in 2019 after police offered a then-record $100,000 reward.

Three years ago, Powell was jailed for at least 10 years for bludgeoning and stabbing Blackmoore to death in what a judge called a “dreadful and monstrous killing”.

Powell said the murder was organised by others and that he was offered $10,000 for the killing.

He will be called as a witness in the new trial.

Angela Blackmoore was 21 when she died at her home in August 1995. Photo / Supplied

Today, at the High Court in Christchurch, the Crown alleged that David Peter Hawken, 50, and Rebecca Elizabeth Jane Wright-Meldrum, 51, acted with Powell to murder Blackmoore.

Both Hawken and Wright-Meldrum have always denied any involvement in Blackmoore’s death and have pleaded not guilty.

A jury of eight men and four women were empanelled today.

Justice Cameron Mander gave the jury a brief address before sending them home at 1.30pm.

Justice Cameron Mander. Photo / George Heard

The Crown will give its opening address in the morning, outlining its case against Hawken and Wright-Meldrum.

Defence lawyers for the two accused will then give their opening statements to the jury.

The trial is scheduled to take up to four weeks and expected to hear from more than 50 witnesses.