Julia DeLuney is on trial for the murder of her 79-year-old mother. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
An earlier version of this story described evidence of Gregory's phone ascending one floor at 9.30pm. This has been corrected to 9.35pm.
Witnesses have painted a picture of complicated relationships, financial difficulties and alcoholism, as the trial of Julia DeLuney, charged with killing her mother, continues.
Helen Gregory, aged 79, died at her Khandallah home in January 2024. DeLuney has pleaded not guilty to her murder.
The Crown's case is that DeLuney, who first appeared in front of a judge and jury in the High Court in Wellington on Monday, attacked her mother, then staged the scene to make it look like she had suffered a fall from the attic.
The jury was told DeLuney had been a teacher, but had not worked as one for the past 15 years.
Instead, she traded cryptocurrency, and was in some financial difficulty.
She also struggled with alcoholism - although she had been mostly sober for the past 12 years.
Her relationship with her mother was described by one witness as "complicated".
Gregory was painted as a woman in good health, but the court heard she had previously had some falls.
The Crown's first witness, whose identity was suppressed, said Gregory had three falls they were aware of prior to her death, with one in September 2023 ending in her being admitted to hospital.
They also told the court Gregory mistrusted banks, preferring to keep thousands of dollars stashed around the house - including a bag of $50 and $100 notes in the freezer.
Police at Helen Gregory's home after her death. Photo: RNZ / Hamish Cardwell
On one occasion, DeLuney took one of those stashes of money and told her mother she had invested it on her behalf.
Then, days before the death, she told her mother her account had made a profit and she needed a further $15,000 to be able to transfer it.
Her mother gave her the money, but the Crown said she appeared to have used it to pay bills.
DeLuney's relationship with alcohol also came under the spotlight, with another witness testifying that although DeLuney had been sober for more than a decade, she had suffered a brief relapse after her mother's fall in September.
The witness said DeLuney and Gregory had a complicated relationship, but there was no animosity between them.
They said DeLuney had appeared depressed in the weeks prior to Gregory's death and had in one conversation between them, expressed regret that at age 52 she would never own a home again, and had nothing saved for her retirement.
But defence lawyer Quentin Duff told the jury to question the idea that an evening which began with ballet tickets could have ended in murder, saying the police investigation had failed to consider that someone else might have killed Gregory.
Defence lawyer Quentin Duff suggested someone else may have killed Helen Gregory. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
He said later evidence would show Gregory's phone ascending one floor into the attic at 9.35pm, after DeLuney had left, and police had missed the presence of a white car coming and going around the same time.
On top of that, a neighbour told police someone had knocked on their door between 9.30pm and 10.30pm, and when they opened it, there was nobody there.
He argued it was possible Gregory could have "opened that door and met her death".
The trial before Justice Peter Churchman was expected to take four to five weeks, with the Crown set to call more than 80 more witnesses.
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