DeLuney trial: Defence argues no breakdown in relationship between accused and mother
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RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Convicted murder Julia Deluney's diaries: Bible verses, cryptocurrency and future plans
Julia Deluney was found guilty of killing her mother, Helen Gregory. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Julia Deluney's diaries, presented as evidence by the Crown during her month-long trial , reveal the highs and lows of cryptocurrency trading, her plans for a Remuera home to retire in, and her grief following the death of her mother. DeLuney was found guilty of murdering Helen Gregory, 79, at the elderly woman's home in Baroda St in Khandallah in January last year. The Crown argued it had been a financially motivated attack, and that DeLuney had been receiving money - or at worst, stealing it - from her mother for at least a year before the murder. Over the course of the trial, her diaries were presented as evidence of her emotional state and financial struggles. They contained little reminders and checklists: "car service, pay credit card $10,000, hair tidy up". But that sat alongside Bible passages, musings about her future, and some existential questions. DeLuney had been a teacher until about 15 years ago. In recent years she had turned her hand to trading cryptocurrency. The court saw photographs of the diary pages, with typed transcriptions alongside. Some entries contained references to FET, WOO, DXY, buying on red days, selling on green days, FOMO of "green candles" (good trades) and speculation about when the US regulating body would approve the first Bitcoin ETF. In early December, she wrote: "Bitcoin hit, $40,000, waiting for FET to break through." Some entries contained Bible passages: "Give back what the locusts have taken away, God, double what he had before! I, Julia, stand for the word of the Lord." The Crown pointed to other entries as a sign she had been struggling mentally - like this one in mid-December: "I need to remember how tough and discouraging these past five-six years have been waiting for such a time as this." Helen Gregory. Photo: Supplied As December passed, her diaries begin to reveal a desire to cash out and step back. December 16, 2023: "Having a healthy pullback today after a big green week.... Yes, I'm desperately impatient to resume my life after six years of staring at charts. It's been a terribly traumatic and challenging period of my life. I need to leave this crypto world behind me soon. Please dear lord." And on the last day of the year, there was a glimpse into her dreams for the future. December 31, 2023: "100x from here and we're out of here! New life begins! Remuera goal for 2024, 10m. Generational family home, pool [...], great kitchen, bathrooms, 4+ bedrooms, beautiful tropical garden." The diaries showed how turbulent cryptocurrency trading could be. One early January day, DeLuney wrote the markets were "waking up" - and the next, "Market crashed. Liquidations everywhere." DeLuney's bank records showed between January 2023 and January 2024, she spent more than $155,000 on crypto-currency investments. Cryptocurrency consultant Nicolas Turnbull gave evidence to help the jury understand some of the jargon, but he said there seemed to be "no real structure" to DeLuney's trading. "There's a lot of emotion in it, where if you're trading, and you're doing this as a job ... in my professional opinion you need structure, you need risk management." And as January wore on, the diaries revealed DeLuney's increasing disillusionment with trading. On January 10, she wrote: "It's been an awful year so far, I'm done. Been trying so hard to crack this but as soon as I think it's in my reach, it gets taken away - again and again. I can't keep doing this, I just want a f***ng home and some financial security in old age. It's obviously not happening. F*** life!" On January 24, DeLuney visited her mother to book tickets to the ballet. Her diary entries that day - likely written before she visited her mother that evening - were Bible passages. "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118.24 And: "For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4.13 Crown prosecutor Stephanie Bishop told the jury in her closing argument they may never know the details of that evening, but "something happened, something changed" - that led to DeLuney violently assaulting her mother. The next entry was on January 26, 2024 - two days after her mother's death: Alongside a to-do list of funeral arrangements, she quoted Romans 8.28: "For all things work together for good to those who love him and that are called according to his purposes" and Matthew 6.33: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all those things shall be added unto you." The funeral took place on February 3 - a "beautiful service". "I'm going to miss you forever my one and only darling, beautiful mum, be at rest and in peace with your Lord and savior Jesus Christ," DeLuney wrote. The court saw diary entries up until February 8: "Dear God, I love and miss mum sooo much, please take care of her. Thank you for blessing me with such a loving, kind and wise mum." The jury took only a day to deliberate, returning their guilty verdict on Wednesday, just before 5pm. DeLuney was remanded in custody, to be sentenced in September.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Convicted murderer Julia Deluney's diaries: Bible verses, cryptocurrency and future plans
Julia Deluney was found guilty of killing her mother, Helen Gregory. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Julia Deluney's diaries, presented as evidence by the Crown during her month-long trial , reveal the highs and lows of cryptocurrency trading, her plans for a Remuera home to retire in, and her grief following the death of her mother. DeLuney was found guilty of murdering Helen Gregory, 79, at the elderly woman's home in Baroda St in Khandallah in January last year. The Crown argued it had been a financially motivated attack, and that DeLuney had been receiving money - or at worst, stealing it - from her mother for at least a year before the murder. Over the course of the trial, her diaries were presented as evidence of her emotional state and financial struggles. They contained little reminders and checklists: "car service, pay credit card $10,000, hair tidy up". But that sat alongside Bible passages, musings about her future, and some existential questions. DeLuney had been a teacher until about 15 years ago. In recent years she had turned her hand to trading cryptocurrency. The court saw photographs of the diary pages, with typed transcriptions alongside. Some entries contained references to FET, WOO, DXY, buying on red days, selling on green days, FOMO of "green candles" (good trades) and speculation about when the US regulating body would approve the first Bitcoin ETF. In early December, she wrote: "Bitcoin hit, $40,000, waiting for FET to break through." Some entries contained Bible passages: "Give back what the locusts have taken away, God, double what he had before! I, Julia, stand for the word of the Lord." The Crown pointed to other entries as a sign she had been struggling mentally - like this one in mid-December: "I need to remember how tough and discouraging these past five-six years have been waiting for such a time as this." Helen Gregory. Photo: Supplied As December passed, her diaries begin to reveal a desire to cash out and step back. December 16, 2023: "Having a healthy pullback today after a big green week.... Yes, I'm desperately impatient to resume my life after six years of staring at charts. It's been a terribly traumatic and challenging period of my life. I need to leave this crypto world behind me soon. Please dear lord." And on the last day of the year, there was a glimpse into her dreams for the future. December 31, 2023: "100x from here and we're out of here! New life begins! Remuera goal for 2024, 10m. Generational family home, pool [...], great kitchen, bathrooms, 4+ bedrooms, beautiful tropical garden." The diaries showed how turbulent cryptocurrency trading could be. One early January day, DeLuney wrote the markets were "waking up" - and the next, "Market crashed. Liquidations everywhere." DeLuney's bank records showed between January 2023 and January 2024, she spent more than $155,000 on crypto-currency investments. Cryptocurrency consultant Nicolas Turnbull gave evidence to help the jury understand some of the jargon, but he said there seemed to be "no real structure" to DeLuney's trading. "There's a lot of emotion in it, where if you're trading, and you're doing this as a job ... in my professional opinion you need structure, you need risk management." And as January wore on, the diaries revealed DeLuney's increasing disillusionment with trading. On January 10, she wrote: "It's been an awful year so far, I'm done. Been trying so hard to crack this but as soon as I think it's in my reach, it gets taken away - again and again. I can't keep doing this, I just want a f***ng home and some financial security in old age. It's obviously not happening. F*** life!" On January 24, DeLuney visited her mother to book tickets to the ballet. Her diary entries that day - likely written before she visited her mother that evening - were Bible passages. "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118.24 And: "For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4.13 Crown prosecutor Stephanie Bishop told the jury in her closing argument they may never know the details of that evening, but "something happened, something changed" - that led to DeLuney violently assaulting her mother. The next entry was on January 26, 2024 - two days after her mother's death: Alongside a to-do list of funeral arrangements, she quoted Romans 8.28: "For all things work together for good to those who love him and that are called according to his purposes" and Matthew 6.33: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all those things shall be added unto you." The funeral took place on February 3 - a "beautiful service". "I'm going to miss you forever my one and only darling, beautiful mum, be at rest and in peace with your Lord and savior Jesus Christ," DeLuney wrote. The court saw diary entries up until February 8: "Dear God, I love and miss mum sooo much, please take care of her. Thank you for blessing me with such a loving, kind and wise mum." The jury took only a day to deliberate, returning their guilty verdict on Wednesday, just before 5pm. DeLuney was remanded in custody, to be sentenced in September.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
From ‘you're a joke' to ‘I've forgiven you': Families of Idaho murder victims address Bryan Kohberger at sentencing
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing on July 23 in Boise, Idaho. Photo: Kyle Green/Pool/AP via CNN Newsource By Eric Levenson , Dakin Andone , Maureen Chowdhury , Antoinette Radford , CNN The family of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four University of Idaho students killed by Bryan Kohberger in 2022, called him a "joke," "loser," and "as dumb as they come" in a day of searing victim impact statements. "If you hadn't attacked them in their sleep , in the middle of the night like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your fucking ass," her sister Alivea Goncalves said to him, earning a round of applause from some of those gathered in the Boise, Idaho, courtroom. The impact statements from the victims' families were part of a dramatic sentencing hearing that represented the final opportunity for the families to speak in court and reflect on their loved ones, Kohberger and the case's controversial plea deal. Kohberger, too, had an opportunity to speak to the court and answer the question that remains frustratingly unclear: Why? Yet he was as unknowable as ever. Wearing an orange prison outfit, Kohberger kept a flat affect throughout the hearing and did not appear to react to any of the statements. And when he had his turn to speak to the court, he said only three words: "I respectfully decline." Earlier this month, the former criminology graduate student admitted to fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students - Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen - in their off-campus home during the overnight hours of November 13, 2022. He pleaded guilty to burglary and four counts of first-degree murder, and in exchange, prosecutors agreed to a sentence of life in prison, taking the death penalty off the table. Speaking directly to Kohberger, Alivea Goncalves said her sister would "call you exactly what you are: sociopath, psychopath, murderer." She called Kohberger "defendant" and asked a series of questions she said "reverberate violently" in her own head. "Sit up straight when I talk to you," she said. "How was your life right before you murdered my sister? Did you prepare for the crime before leaving your apartment? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling at the time." "If you were really smart, do you think you'd be here right now?" She dismissed him as a sociopath, a psychopath and a delusional and pathetic loser. He is "as dumb as they come," she said, adding that "no one thinks that you are important." "The truth is, you're basic," she said. "Let me be very clear: Don't ever try to convince yourself you matter just because someone finally said your name out loud. I see through you," she said. Steve Goncalves, the victim's father, turned the lectern to directly face Kohberger in his impact statement. "The world's watching because of the kids, not because of you. Nobody cares about you. … In time, you will be nothing but two initials, forgotten to the wind," he said. He called Kohberger a "joke" and described how easy it was to track him down. "Police officers tell us within minutes they had your DNA. Like a calling card. You were that careless. That foolish. That stupid. Masters degree? You're a joke. Complete joke," he said. Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen Photo: (Obtained by CNN) via CNN Newsource Bethany Funke, a roommate of the four slain students, wrote a statement - read aloud by a friend - about her survivor's guilt and her regrets about not immediately calling 911. "I was still out of it and still didn't know what happened. If I had known, I of course, would have called 911 right away," Funke wrote. "I still carry so much regret and guilt for not knowing what had happened and not calling right away, even though I understand, it wouldn't have changed anything." "That was the worst day of my life, and I know it always will be," she added. "Why me? Why did I get to live and not them?" Dylan Mortensen, who also lived with the victims, read aloud her statement through tears, describing what the perpetrator had taken away from all of them. "He didn't just take their lives, he took the light they carried into every room. He took away how they made everyone feel safe, loved, and full of joy. He took away the ability for me to tell them that I love them and that I'm so proud of them. "He took away who they were becoming, and the futures they were going to have. He took away birthdays, graduations, celebrations, and all the memories that we were supposed to make," she said. "All of it is gone. And all the people who loved them are just left to carry that weight forever." "He didn't just take them from the world, he took them from me. My friends, my people who felt like my home. The people I looked up to and adored more than anyone. He took away my ability to trust the world around me. What he did shattered me in places I didn't know could break." Mortensen said she has panic attacks "that slam into me like a tsunami out of nowhere" and send her heart racing. She also said she had a dream last year in which she was able to say goodbye to her slain roommates. "I told them I won't be able to see you again, so I need to tell you goodbye. They all kept asking why, and all I could say was I can't tell you but I have to," she said. "When I woke up, I felt shattered and heartbroken but also strangely grateful, like maybe in some way that dream gave us the goodbye we never got. Still, no dream can replace them, and no goodbye will ever feel finished." Scott Laramie, Mogen's stepfather, read a statement on behalf of him and Mogen's mother, Karen Laramie, saying their daughter was "our gift of life, our purpose and our hope." Laramie said the tragic loss of their daughter has left a "vast emotional wound" that will "never heal." "Since Maddie's loss, there's emptiness in our hearts, home and family. An endless void," Laramie said. "We will grow old grow without our only child." Ben Mogen, Mogen's father, said she was much more than his only child. "She was the only great thing I ever really did. And the only thing I was ever really proud of." He described struggling with addiction and substance abuse and how her daughter helped him. "When I wasn't wanting to live anymore, she was what would keep me from not caring anymore. Knowing that she was out there and was such a beautiful person kept me alive in a lot of rough moments," he said. Mogen's grandmother, Kim Cheeley, told a charming story about how Mogen, her first granddaughter, gave her an unusual nickname. Mogen, then a 1.5-year-old, called her grandmother the same way she mispronounced "banana" - "ba-deedle-deedle." From then on, Cheeley became known as "Deedle," she said. A couple of years before her death, Mogen bought Cheeley a necklace with "Deedle and Maddie" engraved on it, which has become one of her "treasured" possessions, she said. Following her granddaughter's death, Cheeley added an angel wing to the necklace, she told the court. "It's one of my treasured possessions," she said. Several members of the family now have an angel wing tattoo in honor of her granddaughter, Cheeley said. "I wanted mine where I could see and touch it often," she said, rubbing her left forearm. Kim Kernodle, the aunt of Xana Kernodle, said the loss of her niece at first spurred anger within their family but recently has brought them closer. "You united us with your actions," she said. "We have family and friends now that we never knew we had." Unlike many of those who spoke in court Wednesday, she offered Kohberger absolution. "Bryan, I am here today to tell you that I have forgiven you, because I can no longer live with that hate in my heart, and for me to become a better person, I have forgiven you," she said. "And anytime you want to talk and tell me what happened, you have my number. I'm here, no judgment, because I do have questions that I want you to answer. I'm here. I'll be that one that will listen to you, OK?" Jeff Kernodle, Xana Kernodle's father, offered his own regrets. On the night the students were killed, he said he almost went to his daughter's home but he had been drinking, and she told him not to drink and drive. Now, he said, he wishes that he had. "You would have had to deal with me," he told Kohberger. - CNN
