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Woman jailed for life for murdering lover

NZHerald.co.nz

February 4, 2013

A Rotorua woman who murdered her friend and lover Michelle Hoffman-Tamm has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole of 17 years.

Gwenda Leigh Sloane, aka Pluss, 44, was sentenced in the High Court at Rotorua today by Justice Patrick Keane after previously pleading guilty to murdering Ms Hoffman-Tamm.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm, 51, disappeared on November 7 last year after leaving the Philip St, Rotorua home she shared with her long-term female partner to visit a friend. Police found her body on November 23 in a forested area just off State Highway 38 near Murupara.

The police summary of facts revealed the two women, who had been friends for more than 20 years and were having a casual sexual relationship, had been drinking together at Sloane's Holland St house on the evening of November 7.

Sloane told police she "lost it"when she thought Ms Hoffman-Tamm had taken $20 from her wallet.

She launched a frenzied attack that left Ms Hoffman-Tamm with 33 stab wounds and her ears severed and one shoved in her mouth.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm's body lay on her kitchen floor for more than a day before Sloane wrapped up the body, put it in her car and buried it in a ditch near Murupara.

Justice Keane called the attack brutal and callous and said Sloane's intention could only have been to mutilate Ms Hoffman-Tamm.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm's 25-year-old son Rhys Hoffman read out his victim impact statement in court, pausing several times to compose himself. He told how he was struggling to cope with what had happened to his mother.

"I have lost all trust in the world and I understand when people say they have lost everything and it's gut-wrenching,'' he said. ''I never got to make up for all the times I wasn't there for my mum.''

He said when his mother was missing he never imagined it would turn out like this.

"I was willing to take on anything but now my outlook has changed,'' he said.

Victim impact statements from five other family members had also been presented to the court, all speaking of their added grief at the gruesome manner in which Ms Hoffman-Tamm died.

Outside of court after the sentencing, Mr Hoffman said he had been hoping for a longer sentence.

"There's not much we can do other than take it and move on and hope that everyone else is going to do the same.''

Michelle Hoffman-Tamm murdered for $20

By Katie Holland - Rotorua Daily Post

December 13, 2012

Michelle Hoffman-Tamm' s family have spoken of their horror at the gruesome way in which she died _ including having her ears cut off and one shoved in her mouth.

In the Rotorua District Court yesterday, Rotorua process worker Gwenda Leigh Sloane, aka Pluss, 44, pleaded guilty to the murder of her lover Ms Hoffman-Tamm in Rotorua on November 7.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm, 51, disappeared that night after leaving the Philip St home she shared with her long-term female partner to visit a friend. Police found her body on November 23 in a forested area just off State Highway 38 near Murupara.

Sloane was originally charged with assault but that was upgraded to murder on December 3.

In front of a packed courtroom yesterday, Sergeant Bill Scott of the Rotorua police read out the summary of facts, which revealed details of a frenzied attack that left Ms Hoffman-Tamm with 33 stab wounds and her ears severed and one shoved in her mouth.

Sloane told police she had ``lost it'' when she thought Ms Hoffman-Tamm had taken $20 from her wallet.

Outside court Ms Hoffman-Tamm's daughter, Monique Hoffman-Tamm, told The Daily Post the family had previously been told most of those details, but she hadn't expected them to be read out in court.

"It was gut-wrenching,'' she said.

Monique Hoffman-Tamm said she felt nothing but anger towards Sloane, who she had known and called "aunty'' her whole life.

She said she was relieved Sloane had pleaded guilty but it "still doesn't make it seem any more real''. In emotional scenes outside court, Monique Hoffman-Tamm embraced a family member of Sloane's, telling her friends it wasn't their fault.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm's sister Jan Donlan said it hadn't been very pleasant hearing what had happened to the woman she described as her best friend.

However, she said, she hoped the family could now work towards some sort of closure.

"I am just grateful she [Sloane] did plead guilty ... saved us the experience of having to sit through a trial,'' she said.

"Hopefully, now we can bring this tragic situation to an end.''

Ms Donlan said she was also grateful Sloane had told police where Ms Hoffman-Tamm's body was.

According to the police summary of facts, Sloane and Ms Hoffman-Tamm had been friends for more than 20 years and had a casual sexual relationship over the years, which had become more intense recently.

About 11pm on November 7, Sloane sent Ms Hoffman-Tamm a text message saying "hello my little monkey want to have some fun''.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm went to Sloane's Holland St home and they went out and bought three dozen beer.

They returned to Sloane's home where they drank and slept together. At some stage during the evening Sloane became "enraged'' and launched a "frenzied attack'' on Ms Hoffman-Tamm. She used two knives, one 4.5cm in width and the other about 1cm in width, to inflict 33 stab wounds mainly to her victim's chest and back. Ms Hoffman-Tamm also suffered blunt force trauma to the head and lost several teeth.

The summary said some of the stab wounds had potentially been inflicted after death, including a cut across Ms Hoffman-Tamm's throat and a cut from her mouth across her face. Both ears were severed after death and one was put in her mouth.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm's bloodied body lay at Sloane's house on her kitchen floor for more than a day, with Sloane later telling police she sat on her bed and drank the remainder of the beer during that time.

On the morning of November 9, Sloane bought black plastic bags and duct tape and wrapped up the body, put it in the back of her Subaru and drove towards Whakatane looking for somewhere to dispose of it.

She buried it in a 1.5m deep ditch near Murupara, covering it with rubbish and dirt. She then went home and hired a domestic carpet cleaning machine to clean up the house.

The statement said Sloane was spoken to three times by police during their routine investigations but she offered no assistance and attempted to distance herself.

Their inquiries led them back to her on November 22, when she admitted what had happened and led police to the body. Police said without this they were unlikely to have found it.

In her explanation to police, Sloane said she thought Ms Hoffman-Tamm had taken $20 from her wallet so she had "lost it''.

She told police she had been drinking and only recalled parts of what happened that night but remembered attacking Ms Hoffman-Tamm, punching her and stabbing her. She also remembered Ms Hoffman-Tamm being face down on the floor, straddling her and hitting her repeatedly on the back of the head with a kitchen drawer.

She said after disposing of the body more than a day later she put cleaning materials and bloodied towels in rubbish bags and dropped them on a neighbouring street where they were picked up by the council during its usual rubbish collection. She then took Ms Hoffman-Tamm's bike to a bike stand on Te Ngae Rd.

The summary said Sloane appeared genuinely upset about what had happened.

Monique Hoffman-Tamm said yesterday the media attention surrounding the case had been over whelming and exhausting but she had decided to speak to The Daily Post last week in order to tell people to hold on to their family.

During that interview, Monique told how she had known Sloane all her life.

"I've called her aunty for 27 years, my kids have called her aunty since the day they were born,'' she said.

Monique Hoffman-Tamm said she had been worried in the past about her mother's friendship with Sloane.

"We told Mum to cut her loose, she's dangerous, she's no good, she's trouble but Mum wouldn't have done that, no way. Gwenda had been around for too long for Mum to walk away which in the end brought us to this conclusion.''

She said the horror of what was done to her mother made it harder to accept.

"Why go to that extent after Mum had died, why do then what she did?''

loane was remanded in custody for sentencing in the High Court at Rotorua on February 4.

  

Gruesome murder details revealed

By Katie Holland - NZHerald.co.nz

December 12, 2012

A Rotorua woman has admitted the gruesome murder of her lover Michelle Hoffman-Tamm, including cutting off her ears and shoving one in the dead woman's mouth.

(Warning: This story contains explicit content)

Gwenda Leigh Sloane, aka Pluss, 44, a process worker, pleaded guilty in the Rotorua District Court this morning to the murder of the 51-year-old in Rotorua on November 7.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm, 51, went missing after last being seen on her red mountain bike on November 7, when she left the Philip St home she shared with her long-term female partner to visit a friend, but never arrived.

Police found her body on November 23 in a forested area just off State Highway 38 near Murupara.

Sloane was originally charged with assault but that was upgraded to murder on December 3.

In front of a packed courtroom today, Sergeant Bill Scott read out the police summary of facts.

It said Sloane and Ms Hoffman-Tamm had been friends for more than 20 years and had a casual sexual relationship over the years which had become more intense prior to the murder.

About 11pm on November 7, Sloane sent Ms Hoffman-Tamm a text message saying "hello my little monkey want to have some fun".

Ms Hoffman-Tamm went to Sloane's Holland St home and they drove to Liquor King where they bought three dozen stubbies of beer.

They returned to Sloane's home where they drank and slept together. At some stage during the evening Sloane became "enraged" and launched a "frenzied attack" on Ms Hoffman-Tamm.

She used two knives to inflict 33 stab wounds - one a large knife 4.5cm in width and the other about 1cm in width.

The wounds were mainly to the chest and back. Ms Hoffman-Tamm also suffered blunt force trauma to the head and lost several teeth.

The summary said up to 25 of the stab wounds had potentially been inflicted after death including a cut across Ms Hoffman-Tamm's throat and a cut from her mouth across her face. Both ears were severed after death and one was put in her mouth.

Her lifeless and bloodied body lay at Sloane's house on her kitchen floor for more than a day.

On the morning of November 9, Sloane purchased black plastic bags and duct tape and wrapped up the body, put it in the back of her Subaru and drove towards Whakatane looking for somewhere to dispose of it.

She discovered a 1.5m deep ditch near Murupara and buried the body, covering it in rubbish and dirt.

She then went home and hired a domestic carpet cleaning machine to clean up the house.

The statement said Sloane was spoken to three times by police during their routine investigations but she offered no assistance and attempted to distance herself.

Their inquiries led them back to her on November 22 when she admitted what happened and led police to the body. Police said without her assistance, they were unlikely to have found the body.

In her explanation to police, Sloane said she thought Ms Hoffman-Tamm had taken $20 from her wallet and she had "lost it".

She told police as she had been drinking she only recalled parts of what happened that night but remembered attacking Ms Hoffman-Tamm, punching her and stabbing her.

She also remembered Ms Hoffman-Tamm being face down on the floor, straddling her and hitting her repeatedly on the back of the head with a kitchen drawer.

She said she left the body on the kitchen floor all the next day, November 8, while she sat on the bed drinking the rest of the beer before disposing of the body the following morning.

She put cleaning materials in rubbish bags and dropped them on a neighbouring street where they were picked up by the council during its usual rubbish collection. She also took Ms Hoffman-Tamm's bike to a bike stand on Te Ngae Rd.

The summary said Sloane appeared genuinely upset about what had happened.

Sloane was remanded in custody for sentencing in the High Court at Rotorua on February 4.

  

Police identify body as missing Rotorua woman

Rotorua Daily Post

November 24, 2012

Police have formally identified a body found in a forested area close to State Highway 38 near Murupara as that of missing Rotorua woman Michelle Hoffman-Tamm.

Hoffman-Tamm, 51, was missing for more than two weeks. She was last seen on her bike leaving home in Phillip Street, Rotorua, on November 7 on the way to visit friends.

Her bike was found on Friday, at a separate location in Rotorua.

Murupara is about 60 kilometres southeast of Rotorua.

A 44 year-old woman has been arrested and charged with common assault in connection to the case.

Police were earlier searching Rotorua's landfill for clues in their homicide investigation.

A police statement said they expected to continue their forensic examination of an address in Holland Street in Rotorua for a couple more days.

Police want to hear from anyone who was in the area of Holland Street between 6pm on Wednesday November 7, and Sunday November 11, and in Victoria Street between Sunday November 11 and Monday November 12.

Hoffman-Tamm's family are being kept up to date with developments. On Wednesday, the missing woman's sister made a heartfelt plea for information in the case.

Jan Dolan said it was completely out of character for her sister to go missing and not make contact with her family.

She said that Hoffman-Tamm was in a "very good head space' when she was last seen.

  

Arrest made in connection with missing Rotorua woman

Rotorua Daily Post

November 22, 2012

Police investigating the disappearance of Michelle Hoffman-Tamm are tonight examining an area of interest between Rotorua and Murupara.

A woman has also been arrested.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm was last seen on November 7 when she left her Philip St home on her bicycle.

Police said Significant developments in the investigation this morning led officers to a rural spot close to SH38 between Rotorua and Murupara.

That location has been secured and will be subject to forensic examination by ESR.

A house in Rotorua will also undergo forensic examination along with any other areas of significance that are identified. Police said this was expected to last a couple of days.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm's red bike was also found today at a different location in a Rotorua suburb.

A 44-year-old woman has been charged with assault and will appear at Rotorua District Court tomorrow morning. Police said Further charges were likely.

As the matter is now before the court police are unable to comment in any further detail about today's developments.

Police want to hear from anyone who was near Holland St between 6pm on Wednesday 7, November and Sunday, 11 November and in Victoria St between Sunday 11, November and Monday 12 November.

Police are particularly interested in the movements of a two-tone light-coloured Subaru Legacy stationwagon between the November 7 and 12, travelling around Rotorua or between Rotorua, Whakatane and Murupara.

  

Body found in missing woman case

Rotorua Daily Post

November 3, 2012

Police investigating the disappearance of a Rotorua woman have confirmed they have found a body.

Information had been received from members of the public which police said led to "places of interest".

The body was found about 2.30pm today in an area of forest close to SH38 about 10km from Murupara.

Police earlier this afternoon revealed the missing person investigation was now a homicide inquiry.

The body is not confirmed to be Michelle Hoffman-Tamm, who has been missing since November 7.

Detective Senior Sergeant Zane Smith of the Rotorua CIB said the body had been taken away from where it was found on State Highway 38.

"We have formal identification processes to now go through and it would be wrong of me to speculate before those processes are complete. We have been continually updating Michelle's family on the progress of our investigation and of course we have advised them that we have located a body, but they too understand that we cannot jump to conclusions," Mr Smith said.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm's bike was also found On Thursday near some shops at the intersection of Te Ngae Rd and Basley Rd in Lynmore.

Meanwhile, a 44-year old woman appeared in Rotorua District Court this morning charged with assaulting Ms Hoffman-Tamm.

The Rotorua woman, who was granted interim name suppression, did not enter a plea when she appeared before a Community Magistrate and was remanded in custody to reappear in court on December 3.

Police said this afternoon they are not ruling out other charges.

They said family members were distraught.

Ms Hoffman-Tamm, 51, disappeared after leaving her Phillip St home by bicycle to visit a friend on November 7.

Mr Smith said police were still carrying out a forensic investigation at a house on Holland St.

He said police want to hear from anyone who was in the area of Holland St between 6pm on Wednesday November 7 and Sunday November 11, and in Victoria St between Sunday November 11, and Monday November 12.

"Police are particularly interested in the movements of a two-tone light-coloured Subaru Legacy stationwagon between the 7th and the 12th travelling around Rotorua or between Rotorua, Whakatane and Murupara."