The Murder of Angela Blackmoore

Angela Maree Blackmoore was 21 when she was killed at her Wainoni home in Christchurch in August 1995. She was pregnant and her young son was in the house. The homicide became one of Canterbury's long-running cold cases.

A case that stayed open

Police continued working the case for decades. In May 2019, investigators made a renewed public appeal and offered a reward for information. Later that year, police charged two people after a major breakthrough in the inquiry.

Jeremy Powell admitted his role in the murder and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced in 2020 to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years. His evidence later became important in the prosecution of two other defendants.

Further prosecutions

David Hawken and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum stood trial in the High Court at Christchurch. The Crown alleged that Hawken was behind the plan and that Wright-Meldrum assisted in enabling the killing. Powell testified for the prosecution about the events and the alleged arrangement.

On 8 December 2023, a jury found both Hawken and Wright-Meldrum guilty of murder. The verdicts followed decades in which Blackmoore's family and investigators had waited for a full accounting of what happened.

Sentences

On 19 April 2024, Hawken and Wright-Meldrum were each sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum non-parole periods of 10 years. New Zealand Police publicly acknowledged the sentencing and the work of investigators who had remained involved with the case over many years.

The convictions mean that three people were ultimately held criminally responsible for Blackmoore's murder: Powell through his guilty plea, and Hawken and Wright-Meldrum through jury verdicts.