The woman who claims she witnessed a burglary that police say was the motive for the 1989 murder of West Auckland man Deane Fuller-Sandys was “totally wrong”, according to a private investigator.
Gail Maney was convicted in 1998 for ordering a hit on Fuller-Sandys after he was said to have burgled her home in Henderson, West Auckland, nine years earlier. The court heard that Stone carried out the murder, and that two men got rid of Fuller-Sandys’ corpse. His body has never been found.
“[The police] gave the scenario of events in which they said that [Fuller-Sandys] had sold me drugs and that he’d then come back and stolen the drugs off me so I had ordered a hit on Deane, and asked Stephen Stone to the hit, that Stephen had lured him to a bush and killed him,” said Maney.
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RNZ and Stuff's interactive long-form write-up: Gone Fishing: Murder, mayhem ... maybe
Mark Franklin, the officer who headed the investigation into Fuller-Sandys murder said that they were given information about the burglary at the Larnoch Road home by Tania Wilson - a former flatmate of Maney’s who gave evidence against her.
“There was clear evidence there was a burglary at that address and a leather jacket and drugs were stolen,” said Franklin.
He added that the burglary took place about two weeks before Fuller-Sandys disappeared on August 21, 1989. The police officers working on the case quizzed Maney’s neighbour - Kathryn Salle - at the time.
Salle said she had seen someone come down the driveway, and slip into the house through a ranchslider. About a day after the burglary, Maney and her flatmates then confronted Salle on her doorstep to ask her if she’d seen anything.
Salle testified to this in court - both at an initial trial in 1998 and at Maney’s retrial. In Salle’s testimony, she stated she moved into her property on Larnoch Rd in July 1989 - a month after building had started on the house. She told the court she lived in the home while it was being built.
Tania Wilson. Photo: Supplied
Maney maintains that Salle did not move into her home until later that year.
A private investigator, John Bradley tracked down a plumber and electrician whose job sheets and permits show that there was no wiring or plumbing in place in Salle’s house at the time the burglary was meant to have happened.
Bradley believes Salle’s recollection of events that occurred many years earlier is mistaken.
“When you look at the electrician and the drainlayer for the neighbour, who was the key witness, she was wrong. She was totally wrong,” Bradley said.
The electrician gave evidence stating that the wiring to the house only started on October 5, 1989, and the main power supply was connected after that. It takes 14 days for work to be completed. The only power to the house before he started work was a temporary low-wattage connection for builders’ tools.
He stated that there was no evidence of anyone living there at the time. If there was, Salle wouldn’t have been able to use her stove, lighting, or have access to hot water until the wiring was complete.
The plumber gave evidence saying that he completed his work on October 20, 1989. Bradley was able to obtain a council permit confirming this date. The plumber also gave evidence saying that he did not see anyone living there at the time.
In her evidence, Salle told the court that a toilet had been installed in July and it was hooked up to a temporary connection.
However, the plumber said that there was no temporary sewage connection. If anyone had been using the toilet at the time, or any other water, it would have ended up on the ground.
Salle was approached for comment, but did not want to talk.
Mark Franklin maintained that Salle was a credible witness.
“This woman was an independent woman, neighbour, quite intelligent, hearing wasn’t good but we found her to be a good witness. She gave a clear statement, she gave that evidence. She knew Tania, she knew Gail,’ he said.
Read more about the case, watch extended video interviews and keep track of the case with a summary of the characters, a timeline and map.
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