Latest news with #DeLuney
1News
5 days ago
- Business
- 1News
Woman accused of murdering mum spent $155k on crypto in a year
The Crown says murder-accused Julia DeLuney used money from her mother to pay off credit card debt and invest further in cryptocurrency. DeLuney is on trial for the murder of her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory, who died at her home in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah in January last year, a crime which she denies. Two days before her mother's death, DeLuney sent her an email saying a sum of money she had invested six months ago on her mother's behalf had made a large profit - more than $268,000 - and she recommended they cash out. She said in order to do that, she needed $30,000 for withdrawal fees and tax liability, and asked her mother to cover half. The court heard on Monday from a cryptocurrency expert that those fees were "totally false," and a common scam. ADVERTISEMENT Helen Gregory. (Source: The court also heard DeLuney used a screenshot of someone else's crypto account to show her mother a graph of her profits. But her mother set about finding $15,000. She had $6000 in cash, which the Crown heard from a bank teller she deposited into her daughter's account on January 23. Then, the court was played a phone call between Gregory and her bank in which she withdrew more from her Kiwisaver, sending a further $9000 to DeLuney's bank account. Those payments appear on DeLuney's statement with the reference: JULIAFROMMUM. Then, her bank statements show she used that money to pay off credit card debt, buy a Lotto ticket, make payments to Sky TV, Afterpay and Mitre 10, and invested about $2000 in cryptocurrency. Financial analyst Eric Huang told the court his analysis of DeLuney's financial records, excluding cash deposits, showed she had spent more than she earned in the year before her mother's death, the High Court heard on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT Huang told the court records showed that between January 1, 2023 and January 25, 2024 - the day after her mother's death - she spent more than $155,000 on cryptocurrency investments. That totalled 47% of her income. Huang said in that same period, she received more than $92,000 from friends and family, primarily her mother and father. Her earnings from cryptocurrency, at least the ones which passed through her bank accounts, were outweighed by her investments; by January 2024, she was $68,000 in the red. Huang said his analysis had shown she spent a "significant amount" on Afterpay purchases, totalling $39,000, on travel and accommodation, totalling $5736, and on personal beauty services like hair and nails, totalling $4339. She did not meet her minimum repayments on her credit card three months out of 12. The Crown said DeLuney attacked her mother before staging it to look like she had fallen from the attic, a crime which was potentially financially motivated. But the defence claims someone else caused those injuries in the 90 minutes in which she had gone to get help. The trial is expected to continue into next week.
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Woman accused of killing mum spent $155K on crypto in a year
By Kate Green of RNZ The Crown says murder-accused Julia DeLuney used money from her mother to pay off credit card debt and invest further in crypto-currency. DeLuney is on trial for the murder of her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory, who died at her home in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah in January last year, a crime which she denies. Two days before her mother's death, DeLuney sent her an email saying a sum of money she had invested six months ago on her mother's behalf had made a large profit - more than $268,000 - and she recommended they cash out. She said in order to do that, she needed $30,000 for withdrawal fees and tax liability, and asked her mother to cover half. The court heard on Monday from a cryptocurrency expert those fees were "totally false", and a common scam. The court also heard DeLuney used a screenshot of someone else's crypto account to show her mother a graph of her profits. But her mother set about finding $15,000. She had $6000 in cash, which the Crown heard from a bank teller she deposited into her daughters account on 23 January. Then, the court was played a phone call between Gregory and her bank in which she withdrew more from her Kiwisaver, sending a further $9000 to DeLuney's bank account. Those payments appear on DeLuney's statement with the reference: JULIAFROMMUM. Then, her bank statements show she used that money to pay off credit card debt, buy a Lotto ticket, make payments to SkyTV, Afterpay and Mitre10, and invested about $2000 in crypto-currency. Financial analyst Eric Huang told the court his analysis of DeLuney's financial records, excluding cash deposits, showed she had spent more than she earned in the year before her mother's death, the High Court heard on Tuesday. Huang told the court records showed between 1 January, 2023 and 25 January, 2024 - the day after her mother's death - she spent more than $155,000 on crypto-currency investments. That totalled 47 percent of her income. Huang said in that same period, she received more than $92,000 from friends and family, primarily her mother and father. Her earnings from crypto currency, at least the ones which passed through her bank accounts, were outweighed by her investments; by January 2024, she was $68,000 in the red. Huang said his analysis had shown she spent a "significant amount" on Afterpay purchases, totalling $39,000, on travel and accommodation, totalling $5736, and on personal beauty services like hair and nails, totalling $4339. She did not meet her minimum repayments on her credit card three months out of 12. The Crown said DeLuney attacked her mother before staging it to look like she had fallen from the attic, a crime which was potentially financially motivated. But the defence claims someone else caused those injuries in the 90 minutes in which she had gone to get help. The trial is expected to continue into next week.
1News
6 days ago
- Business
- 1News
Murder victim Helen Gregory's eerie phone call the day before she was killed
"Not that I'm thinking of dying tomorrow or anything," said 79-year-old Helen Gregory, who would be killed in her home in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah the following day. The audio comes from a phone call to her bank, made on the evening of January 23, 2024. It was played to the High Court on Monday, where her daughter Julia DeLuney is charged with her murder. The trial is now in its fourth week. The court previously heard that DeLuney invested a large sum of money on her mother's behalf into cryptocurrency, which she had been trading in for years. In an email sent on January 22, two days before her mother's death, DeLuney told her mother her money had made a profit of more than $268,000 – "not a bad investment for six months", she wrote. ADVERTISEMENT She recommended they withdraw the profit, and leave the initial investment of $100,000 there to keep growing. DeLuney then told her mother she needed to pay $30,000 in exchange fees and tax liability to be able to withdraw the money. She said she could cover half, but needed her mother to pay the rest. The following morning, Gregory wrote back that she agreed it was a good idea to cash up. Julia DeLuney in the High Court (Source: DeLuney urged her not tell anyone about the profit. "Please please please don't show this to your friends, once people know that you've made some money they will change," she said. And in a later email: "Don't tell the bank about your crypto profits, they won't lend you a thing if you tell them that." On January 23, the day before her death, Gregory went to the bank and deposited $6000 cash into her daughter's account, according to written evidence from the bank assistant who served her. ADVERTISEMENT Later that day, she phoned up to take money out of her KiwiSaver. "We're pre-paying a funeral thing," she explained. "Not that I'm thinking of dying tomorrow or anything." This part of the recording was met by a collective intake of breath from the public gallery. But the Crown says DeLuney misrepresented her mother's money having made a profit. Attached to her initial email, DeLuney sent her mother a screenshot of her account's profit and loss for the past three months. But the screenshot was of someone else's earnings, the Crown says. Crown witness Detective Constable Tobias Weavers, who investigated DeLuney's crypto accounts, told the court today the screenshot matched a graph of a different user's account, publicly available on the leaderboard of crypto-trading platform WOO X. ADVERTISEMENT Crypto-currency expert Nicolas Turnbull told the court this afternoon the withdrawal fees were "totally false". "This is just a common tactic we see, especially overseas, where Kiwis get manipulated... especially older people... into paying these fees," he said. The Crown's case is that DeLuney attacked her mother and staged it to look like a fall, but the defence says, in the 90-minute window when she went to get help after the fall, someone else caused fatal injuries to her elderly mother. DeLuney cried quietly in the dock while her mother's voice played to the court. The trial continues, with only a handful of Crown witnesses to go.
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Murder victim's eerie message played in court
By Kate Green of RNZ "Not that I'm thinking of dying tomorrow or anything," said 79-year-old Helen Gregory, who would be killed in her home in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah the following day. The audio comes from a phone call to her bank, made on the evening of 23 January 2024. It was played to the High Court on Monday, where her daughter Julia DeLuney is charged with her murder. The trial is now in its fourth week. The court previously heard that DeLuney invested a large sum of money on her mother's behalf into crypto currency, which she had been trading in for years. In an email sent on 22 January - two days before her mother's death - DeLuney told her mother her money had made a profit of more than $268,000 - "not a bad investment for six months", she wrote. She recommended they withdraw the profit, and leave the initial investment of $100,000 there to keep growing. DeLuney then told her mother she needed to pay $30,000 in exchange fees and tax liability to be able to withdraw the money. She said she could cover half, but needed her mother to pay the rest. The following morning, Gregory wrote back that she agreed it was a good idea to cash up. DeLuney urged her not tell anyone about the profit. "Please please please don't show this to your friends, once people know that you've made some money they will change," she said. And in a later email: "Don't tell the bank about your crypto profits, they won't lend you a thing if you tell them that." On 23 January - the day before her death - Gregory went to the bank and deposited $6000 cash into her daughter's account, according to written evidence from the bank assistant who served her. Later that day, she phoned up to take money out of her Kiwisaver. "We're pre-paying a funeral thing," she explained. "Not that I'm thinking of dying tomorrow or anything." This part of the recording was met by a collective intake of breath from the public gallery. But the Crown says DeLuney misrepresented her mother's money having made a profit. Attached to her initial email, DeLuney sent her mother a screenshot of her account's profit and loss for the past three months. But the screenshot was of someone else's earnings, the Crown says. Crown witness Detective Constable Tobias Weavers, who investigated DeLuney's crypto accounts, told the court on Monday the screenshot matched a graph of a different user's account, publicly available on the leaderboard of crypto-trading platform WOO X. The Crown's case is that DeLuney attacked her mother and staged it to look like a fall, but the defence says, in the 90-minute window when she went to get help after the fall, someone else caused fatal injuries to her elderly mother. DeLuney cried quietly in the dock while her mother's voice played to the court. The trial continues, with only a handful of Crown witnesses to go.
1News
11-07-2025
- 1News
Jury sees Julia DeLuney's first police interview after mother's death
A high court jury has seen footage of murder-accused Julia DeLuney's video interview with police the day after her mother's death, where her story is first put under the microscope. Police questioned why she changed her clothes on two different occasions, and as they begin to interrogate the details, she asks: "Do you think I could do something like that? It's just, what are you suggesting? You're making me out to be a f***ing monster." DeLuney is on trial at the High Court in Wellington for the murder of her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory, which she denies. The Crown says DeLuney attacked her mother before staging it to look like she had fallen from the attic, but the defence says someone else caused those injuries in the 90 minutes in which she had gone to get help. This week the jury has seen CCTV footage captured by Gregory's neighbour of DeLuney arriving at her mother's address and going up the steps to the house. ADVERTISEMENT The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including a homicide arrest after a Hamilton manhunt, concern over a new Covid variant, and Red Bull sacks its Formula 1 team boss. (Source: 1News) She leaves again three and a half hours later, before briefly ascending the steps for a second time for only a few minutes, coming down again, and then getting in her car and driving away at 9.47pm. There has also been footage of DeLuney disposing of a black rubbish bag in a passing rubbish truck the morning after her mother's death. On Wednesday afternoon, a video interview with detective constable Christopher Clarke was played to the court. The interview lasts two hours and 40 minutes, recorded from about 8.40pm on January 25, 2024, at the Porirua police station. The interviewer, detective constable Chris Clarke, asks DeLuney to go through her version of events multiple times, in increasing detail, and then begins to question it. DeLuney is dressed in a bright red shirt and pants and, in the interview, she wraps herself in a green patterned dressing gown, which another officer has brought to her from her apartment, which was at that point being searched. Clarke describes Gregory's injuries to DeLuney. ADVERTISEMENT "She had a black eye and bruising on the right-hand side of her jaw. Part of her scalp was found in the hallway and the bedroom. "What? Say that again." "The scalp." Clarke gestures to his own head. "Oh my god, no." "There was an open wound on the right-hand side, I believe, of her head and a cut to her arm," Clarke tells her. "They're significant injuries. Right now we have CCTV showing you changing your outfits, significant injuries to your mum-" "I didn't do those injuries to my mother." Clarke also asks about a discrepancy in timing. He said there was a 25-minute gap between when she should have arrived back at her mother's and calling the ambulance. ADVERTISEMENT In the interview, DeLuney denied there had been a delay, and CCTV footage would later confirm her version of events. A neighbour's security camera, the footage of which was played to the court on Tuesday, showed there was a gap of just 10 minutes between DeLuney arriving at Gregory's address, and the first ambulance arriving. But at the time of the video interview, police believed there to be a larger gap. Clarke explained this was due to a delay in ambulance staff passing on the call to police. While DeLuney was being interviewed at the police station, officers and a forensic photographer were going through her Paraparaumu apartment. They were, among other things, searching for the various clothing items DeLuney had been pictured in the night before. CCTV footage showed she arrived at her mother's wearing a bright green shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. Then, she changed her clothes before leaving her mother's to fetch her husband Antonion DeLuney to help. ADVERTISEMENT She explained this was because she did not want to go out in public with blood on her clothes, which had happened while helping her mother, who she said had cut her head falling from the attic. So she was pictured at the Mobil station in Johnsonville, where she stopped to buy a lighter, wearing items of her mothers — a pink long-sleeved top, black pants and black slippers. She said she and her mother shared clothing all the time. "I didn't want to be in public with blood [on me]," she told the detective. "If I was going straight back to see Antonio, then I wouldn't have changed." She changed her clothes again when she got back to her apartment, explaining she just felt more comfortable in her own clothes. The prosecution confirmed all clothing she was pictured in had later been accounted for. But Clarke questioned her priotrities. ADVERTISEMENT "You've gone to your mum's address, she's fallen, you were saying by accident, you get blood on your top, you don't call an ambulance but you change your outfit, put your green top in your handbag, that's what you just said, and then left wearing your mum's clothing." He said three outfit changes was not something you would expect in this situation. DeLuney denied being capable of killing her mother. "I have never been a violent person, particularly to my mother, ever, ever," she says, vehement. "I never even hit my kids." She admitted she did consider calling an ambulance at the house when her mother first fell, but decided against it, as her mother hated hospitals and was protesting. She told Clarke: "I made a mistake, I should have called the ambulance straight away... I shouldn't have let her go up in the f***ing attic and I should have rung 111. I get that." The trial continues.
