Police officer Erin Fisher married Kit Johnston, a convicted killer, in November 2022. She has now been charged with assaulting her new husband. Photos / Supplied
Police officer Erin Fisher married Kit Johnston, a convicted killer, in November 2022. She has now been charged with assaulting her new husband. Photos / Supplied
An Auckland police officer who married a convicted killer has now been charged with assaulting her new husband just days after the wedding.
Erin Fisher, a detective in the Counties Manukau police district, was in a relationship with Kit Johnston and had twin daughters together before getting married in November.
The unconventional couple raised eyebrows in police circles. While Fisher was a serving police officer, Johnston had a manslaughter conviction for a one-punch assault outside an Auckland bar during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Since his release from prison in 2014, Johnston made the most of his second chance by building a successful car-tinting business in Pokeno and starting a family with Fisher.
But the Weekend Herald can reveal that Fisher has now been charged with assaulting Johnston, as well as wilful damage by allegedly smashing his cellphone, during an argument two days after the wedding.
Johnston immediately made a complaint with the police and the 38-year-old Fisher was charged three months later. She is next due to appear in the Manukau District Court in May.
No charges were laid against Johnston.
A spokesperson for Police National Headquarters did not directly answer questions about the case, including whether Fisher had been stood down.
“There is an ongoing employment investigation into this matter, as well as active court proceedings.
“As such, police are not in a position to comment further while both these processes are underway.”
Fisher’s lawyer, Todd Simmonds, said his client had “no comment to make at this stage” while charges are still before the court.
For the same reason, Kit Johnston declined to comment on the assault charge against his wife.
“But I would like to thank the New Zealand Police for their support and the hours of investigation work put in.”
Erin Fisher and Kit Johnston on their wedding day in November 2022. Two days later, the police officer allegedly assaulted her new husband. Photo / Supplied
Johnston, now the alleged victim of violence, was once the perpetrator in a high-profile death.
He used to be known as Kit John Murray, and was convicted of manslaughter following a “one punch” assault during a night out to celebrate the Rugby World Cup in 2011.
In the early hours of October 7, 2011, Johnston and a group of friends were out in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour, where bars and restaurants were teeming with tourists and rugby fans.
Another man, Billy Dawson, was also out drinking with his Sky TV workmates.
Dawson, a video editor, had been visiting a barman he knew at Spy Bar. As he was leaving, Dawson literally bumped into one of Johnston’s friends.
A brief scuffle broke out but stopped when a bouncer intervened, although both sides carried on with an agitated verbal exchange.
Johnston shoved the much bigger Dawson (he was nearly 2m tall) in the chest, who carried on shouting over his head.
Witnesses say Johnston suddenly struck Dawson in the face, who fell straight backwards and struck his head on the pavement with an audible impact. He was left unconscious, bleeding from his nose and mouth, and later died in hospital from his injuries.
The former ward of the state spent his time inside getting an education, with a Parole Board decision describing his behaviour as “exemplary” and a “model prisoner”.
He was released in October 2014 and went on to establish his own window tinting and signwriting business in Pokeno south of Auckland.
In a previous interview with the Stuff website, Johnston said he remembered the words of Billy Dawson’s mother at his sentencing: “I do not wish for two lives to be wasted.”
“I was a ‘CYFs kid’ until Billy … I had no home and no family … Now … This man, our meeting, it’s far more real than people can understand,” Johnston said in 2019.
“It was the worst thing to happen to him but the best thing to happen to me which makes it so bad. Those people have lost a son, a brother and a friend and they’ve lost something from their life that can’t be replaced. I’ve gained motivation and drive … My life is completely different. It’s hard but it’s amazing. I feel guilty a lot of the time, I feel it every day.”
