10 Jun 2025

Elderly mental health patient sentenced to life in prison for murder

From Checkpoint, 5:08 pm on 10 June 2025

An elderly mental health patient who murdered a woman he sometimes gardened for will spend the rest of his life imprisoned and at least the next decade behind bars. Elliott Cameron murdered Frances Phelps on October the 4th last year at the hillside Christchurch home where she lived alone. Cameron later pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced in the High Court. Timothy Brown reports.