Jury finds woman guilty of fraud and killing pensioner

Julianna Nuku's attempt to deflect the blame for the vicious murder of Inglewood widower Bernard "Ben" Boylan failed yesterday when a New Plymouth High Court jury found her guilty.

Dwarfed by prison guards, Nuku stood as the foreman of the jury delivered nine guilty verdicts - eight for fraud and one for the murder of the 79-year-old crippled pensioner.

Nuku received a comforting arm from a female guard as the verdict was announced, the court filling with sighs of relief from police and Crown lawyers.

Relief too, for the friends of Mr Boylan who had sat through weeks of at times gruesome evidence of how their neighbour and fellow parishioner had met such a brutal death.

One friend, Rosemary Ellis, said the verdict had come as no surprise. "There was no doubt in our minds, none at all, not when you knew the sort of man he was. He was generous, but not like that.

"He was a very, very kind gentleman and he didn't deserve what he got."

New Plymouth CIB chief Grant Coward said police were extremely pleased with the result.

There was praise too for the community effort that went in to help with a case that was always going to be time consuming.

"For me, and the team, the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming. It was just a matter of trying to piece them altogether and I think we achieved that very well."

Mr Boylan's only family - a niece and nephew living in Britain - had been told of the verdict by police.

Crown solicitor Tim Brewer said it was an extremely complex case, involving a huge amount of circumstantial evidence, with more than 100 exhibits and more than 100 witnesses.

"I thought the verdict was clearly in accordance with the evidence," he said.

"No verdict can take away from the fact that the trial was about the taking of a life from a man who had a lot of life still to live."

Defence counsel Barry Henderson admitted he had become more confident the longer the jury had stayed out during their nine-hour deliberation.

"Obviously the lengthy deliberations of the jury meant there were certain aspects that required considerable consideration, which vindicates my belief that it was merely a circumstantial case," he said.

"But at the end of the day one must respect the jury verdict."

Nuku will be sentenced on August 17.

- NZPA