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A headstone has mysteriously appeared at the grave of Southland child murderer Minnie Dean spooking locals.
The previously unmarked grave of the Winton woman hanged 113 years ago for the murder of a baby now has a headstone which has puzzled both locals and experts.
It reads: "Minnie Dean is part of Winton's history. Where she now lies is now no mystery."
It has confounded Dunedin-based author Lynley Hood, who wrote Minnie Dean: Her Life and Crimes.
"I am gobsmacked," she told the Otago Daily Times.
Dr Hood said she kept in regular contact with Dean's great-great nephew Martin McCrae, from Scotland, who had expressed an interest in erecting a headstone but the most recent development "is another example that Minnie Dean just won't lie down".
The motive for the new headstone was unclear, she said.
- NZPA
