Mark Lundy retrial: 'Substantial discrepancy' over car's distance

Mark Lundy in the dock. Photo / NZ Herald / Mark Mitchell

Key pieces of evidence
• Crown prosecutor Philip Morgan started to give his closing statements this afternoon.
• The Crown says central nervous system tissue found on Mark Lundy's polo shirt "demonstrates clearly and unequivocally" that Lundy was the killer.
• There was no "real possibility" that central nervous system tissue got on to Lundy's shirt as the result of contamination.
• The only way this tissue would have appeared on his shirt is if "he was in the room when the brain was flying around or he got it on his shirt when he was cleaning up the mess," the Crown says.
• The Crown argues that several hundred kilometres of travel which was unaccounted for in Lundy's car, was enough for him to make the trip to Palmerston North and back, in the early hours of August 30.

There was a "substantial discrepancy" between how far Mark Lundy said he had travelled in his car and how far the vehicle had actually gone following the murder of his wife and daughter, Crown prosecutors say.

Today, the Crown continued with its closing address to the jury of seven men and five women at the Lundy double murder trial.

The Crown alleges in "the wee small hours" of August 30, 2000, Mark Lundy, 56, drove to Palmerston North from Wellington, where he killed his wife Christine, and daughter Amber, using one of his tools, before returning to Wellington.

Lundy has denied the charges.

In his closing address, Crown prosecutor Philip Morgan argued that several hundred kilometres of travel, which was unaccounted for in Lundy's car, was enough for him to make the trip to Palmerston North and back, in the early hours of August 30.

He said there was a "substantial discrepancy" between how far Lundy said he had travelled - and how far the car had actually gone.

Mr Morgan also said there was a "discrepancy" in how much fuel the car used.

"There is a very substantial discrepancy in the distance, and there is a very substantial discrepancy in how much fuel this car used. "His car tells us how far he travelled, and his shirt tells us where he travelled to."

In his closing address, Mr Morgan also argued that central nervous system tissue, or brain tissue, found on a polo shirt worn by Lundy on the night of the murder "demonstrates clearly and unequivocally that he was the killer".

"Mark Lundy, has his wife Christine Lundy's brain on his shirt," Mr Morgan said. "No husband should have his wife's brain on his shirt, not after she's been murdered.

Mr Morgan said central nervous system tissue did not end up on Lundy's polo shirt because of contamination, as the defence has argued.

He said it was not possible that Christine's brain tissue could have been taken from the scene by a police officer, then transferred to Lundy's car, then to his polo shirt, which was found in a suit bag, inside out, in the back of his car.

There was only one way the brain tissue got on Lundy's shirt, Mr Morgan said.

"He was in the room when the brain was flying around or he got it on his shirt when he was cleaning up the mess. "There is no real possibility - no actual possibility - that it got there as a result of some contamination."

The trial adjourned early today, and the Crown will continue with its closing address tomorrow.

This morning, defence lawyer David Hislop continued with the defence's case and told jurors it was "impossible" for Lundy to have been able to murder his wife and daughter.

Mr Hislop said Lundy made no "secret journey" from Wellington to his family's home in Palmerston North, as there "simply wasn't enough petrol".

"It was simply impossible for that man to have murdered his wife and child on the 29th or 30th of August. Simply impossible."

Lundy would not be taking the stand in his own defence as "he has to prove nothing", and it was for the prosecution to prove he was guilty, Mr Hislop said.

The defence also called its final witness, Tim McKinnel, a private investigator and former police officer, who carried out a review of the work police did questioning residents near the Lundys' house following the murders.

The trial before Justice Simon France at the High Court in Wellington continues.