Raymond Phillimore shot dead Northland grandmother Gaelene Bright, pictured, and used this Holden Rodeo to dump her body in the Waipoua Forest.
Photo / Supplied
Raymond Phillimore shot dead Northland grandmother Gaelene Bright, pictured, and used this Holden Rodeo to dump her body in the Waipoua Forest.
Photo / Supplied
Raymond Charles Phillimore shot Gaelene Bright— a Northland woman he had been in an intimate relationship with— until he knew she was dead and dumped her body in the Waipoua Forest.
The 66-year-old this morning pleaded guilty in the High Court at Whangārei to one charge of murder and another of unlawful possession of a firearm after pleading not guilty in June last year.
He did not hold a firearm licence.
An agreed summary of facts was read out in court by Crown Solicitor Mike Smith this morning.
Phillimore and Bright had been in an intimate relationship for three years preceding her death. Both lived at an isolated property in Waimamaku which backed onto the Waipoua Forest.
Their relationship had deteriorated of late, with ongoing tension since their attendance at the Covid protests in Wellington.
Bright spoke to an ex-partner on social media on the afternoon of May 1, 2022, and a missing person’s report was lodged 10 days later by one of her daughters after concerns she had not been heard of since May 1.
A neighbour heard what sounded like gunshots at Phillimore’s Waimamaku property between 1am and 3am on May 1.
He loaded her body into a Holden Rodeo utility and drove to an area of the forest. He manoeuvred her body over an embankment before covering it with sticks and leaves.
Later that day, he walked through the bush and along the road past a road maintenance team. He walked back to the area where he had left her body, moved her further away from the roadside and covered the body with sticks, fronds and ferns.
Justice Timothy Brewer has remanded Raymond Phillimore in custody until sentencing in August.
Photo / NZME
Phillimore then walked back to the house he lived in where he lit a fire and disposed of items used in the disposal of her body.
He packed his belongings, including the Toz brand .22 bolt action rifle firearm used in the shooting, and told witnesses Bright had travelled to Auckland with an unknown male in the early hours of May 1, and dropped her dog with a neighbour.
Phillimore travelled south and the next day, he abandoned the utility vehicle at Te Kuiti before travelling to Napier.
On May 9, he stored his belongings including the firearm in a driftwood hut on the foreshore and went for a swim off Marine Parade in Napier. He drifted several hundred metres down the beach, leaving the cut-down .22 firearm in the hut loaded with a live .22 bullet in the chamber.
Members of the public, concerned with his behaviour, contacted police and Phillimore was taken to hospital.
His belongings were located two days later after a fire on the beach was reported.
Bright’s body was located on May 17 down a steep embankment and a post-mortem examination revealed the extent of her injuries that led to her death.
When spoken to at Hastings police station on the day her body was located, Phillimore admitted killing Bright and dumping her body in the Waipoua Forest.
