Julia DeLuney charged with murdering her mother Helen Gregory in Khandallah, Wellington

• Julia DeLuney can now be named as the person charged with murdering her mother, 79-year-old Helen Gregory in her Wellington home earlier this year
• DeLuney, 52, is accused of committing the act the same day she allegedly tricked Gregory into paying her $15,000
• DeLuney’s husband will be a Crown witness in the trial, which is set down for June next year

A woman accused of murdering her elderly mother after allegedly tricking her into paying her $15,000 has lost her fight for name suppression.

Julia DeLuney can now be named as the person charged with murdering 79-year-old Helen Gregory in her home in Khandallah, Wellington, earlier this year.

Gregory was found dead at her Baroda St home on January 24 after suffering what police described as a “violent act”.

The police and the Crown’s claims on what happened that day can now be revealed.

DeLuney, 52, is alleged to have deceived her mother into paying her the money on January 24, before going to her house and attacking her with “significant, and ultimately fatal, force”, said Wellington High Court Justice Karen Grau in a written ruling on name suppression.

Julia DeLuney, 52, is on electronically-monitored bail with a 24-hour curfew. Photo / Ethan Griffiths

DeLuney’s husband will be a Crown witness in the trial. According to the Crown, he called his wife on the night of Gregory’s death, asking when she would be home.

“Mrs DeLuney is alleged to have left her mother’s address shortly after his phone call and driven home. The couple then returned to Mrs DeLuney’s mother’s address. Mr DeLuney, when confronted by the scene, called 111 and performed CPR until ambulance staff arrived and took over,” Justice Grau’s ruling said.

DeLuney is currently on 24/7 electronically-monitored bail at her home she shares with her husband.

In the seven years before her mother’s death, DeLuney had traded in cryptocurrencies and was living a “full life”, Justice Grau said.

But she reported suffering significant mental health issues from mid-2022 after menopause hit. She also had a history of anxiety and chronic low mood with an alcohol dependence disorder that began in her 20s, the ruling said, but was abstinent from alcohol now.

DeLuney’s legal team applied for name suppression on several grounds, including the affect it would have on her mental health and the risk it might cause to a fair trial.

Justice Grau said the Crown was alleging a “brutal and financially-motivated murder of an elderly woman by her daughter”, and her defence counsel argued this would lead to extensive negative media coverage and possible hostility and vigilante action from the public.

The defence also suggested there would be a “media firestorm”, pointing to the Philip Polkinghorne trial in Auckland and the “minute-by-minute reporting”.

“I do not consider the present case to be comparable when the people involved there are, or were, relatively high-profile,” Justice Grau said.

She also did not consider this to be a case where publicity would be “relentless and hostile”.

As for the impact on DeLuney’s mental health, Justice Grau said she did not believe the impact reached the high threshold of extreme hardship.

She noted DeLuney had the support of her husband and father and there were no suggestions she was at risk of self-harm.

She declined to grant suppression for DeLuney and her husband.

The interim suppression of DeLuney’s name was kept in place for four weeks to enable the DeLuneys to prepare for publication and consider their options.

A Court of Appeal staff member confirmed the couple has not filed an appeal on the decision.

The suppression lapsed at 5pm today. DeLuney’s trial is scheduled for June next year, and her next court appearance is set down for November.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.