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Race killing in Haining St, Wellington
Lionel Terry killed Joe Kum Yung to draw attention to his crusade to rid New Zealand of Chinese people. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on the grounds of insanity.
Death penalty abolished...for the time being
This law change also ended flogging and whipping as punishments for murder. National reintroduced the death penalty in 1950 but it was finally abolished as the penalty for murder in 1961.
New Zealander sentenced to death in Malaysia
Lorraine Cohen was sentenced to death by a Malaysian judge for heroin trafficking. On appeal her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. The trial of Lorraine and her son Aaron, who was arrested at the same time, gained worldwide attention.
'Heavenly Creatures' found guilty of murder
Pauline Parker, aged 16, and Juliet Hulme, 15, were convicted of the murder of Pauline's mother Honora at Christchurch on 22 June. Their story was later the subject of Peter Jackson's film Heavenly Creatures.
Parker-Hulme murder in Christchurch
Armed with a brick in a stocking, 16-year-old Pauline Parker and her best friend Juliet Hulme, 15, became two of New Zealand's most notorious murderesses when they killed Pauline's mother, Honora, in Victoria Park, Christchurch.
Minnie Dean goes on trial
Minnie Dean's trial for murdering a baby placed in her care began at the Invercargill Supreme Court. The 'Winton baby-farmer' was found guilty three days later and hanged on 12 August.
Baby-farmer Daniel Cooper hanged
A generation after the execution of the infamous Minnie Dean, the murder trial of Daniel and Martha Cooper revealed that 'baby farming' was still considered a solution to the problem of unwanted children in 1920s New Zealand.
Murder on the Maungatapu track
Having killed George Dobson a fortnight earlier, and a prospector the day before, the Burgess gang continued their killing spree on the track between Canvastown and Nelson. Four men were ambushed and murdered in a crime that stunned the colony.
Gilfillan killings near Whanganui
A Māori raid on the Gilfillan farm at Matarawa, near Whanganui, left four family members dead. The artist John Gilfillan and one of his daughters were severely wounded.
First official execution in NZ
17-year-old Maketu was hanged at the corner of Queen and Victoria streets in Auckland for the 1841 murder of Elizabeth Roberton, her two children, and two other adults. 
Legendary sheep rustler James Mackenzie caught
Mackenzie escaped but was recaptured at Lyttelton on 15 March. Sentenced to five years' imprisonment, he was unconditionally pardoned in January 1856.
Mona Blades vanishes
Eighteen-year-old Mona Blades was last seen sitting in the back seat of an orange Datsun station wagon. Her body was never found and her disappearance has never been explained.
George Wilder escapes from prison
Wilder was a burglar who left apology and thank-you notes for his victims. He was at large for 65 days, becoming a renegade folk hero in the process. His second (and longer) period on the run the following year won him even greater notoriety.
Baby-farmer Minnie Dean hanged
In 1895 Minnie Dean became the first (and only) woman to be hanged by law in New Zealand. Known as the 'Winton baby farmer', she had been convicted of the murder of baby Dorothy Edith Carter after a sensational trial in Invercargill.
Whanganui mayor shoots poet
Walter D'Arcy Cresswell alleged that Mayor Charles Mackay had made homosexual advances. Mackay was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour.
Trades Hall bombing
A suitcase bomb exploded in Wellington's Trades Hall, killing the caretaker Ernie Abbott. No one has ever been arrested for the crime.
Mass murder in the Bay of Islands
Maketū Wharetōtara, the 17-year-old son of the Ngāpuhi chief Ruhe, killed five people at Motuarohia in the Bay of Islands. In March 1842 he became the first person to be legally executed in this country.
David Gray kills 13 at Aramoana
David Gray, an Aramoana resident, began a shooting spree that left 13 people dead.
Tuhiata hanged for murder of Mary Dobie
Tuhiata, known as Tuhi, was hanged in Wellington for the murder of the artist Mary Dobie at Te Namu Bay, Ōpunake. Tuhi wrote to the governor days before his execution asking that 'my bad companions, your children, beer, rum and other spirits die with me'.
Reforming the law - homosexual law reform
To bring about change in the law, the gay movement needed a parliamentary champion. It found one in Member of Parliament Fran Wilde.

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