Killer 'escapes' life-without-parole jail term

By Blair Ensor and David Clarkson - Stuff.co.nz

October 9, 2013

Double child killer Jeremy George Edward McLaughlin has escaped being sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The Crown wanted him to be given the record sentence, but the High Court today chose to impose a 23-year non-parole term.

Justice Graham Panckhurst said McLaughlin was "on the brink" of becoming the first murderer in New Zealand to be jailed for the rest of his natural life.

The 35-year-old was found guilty at trial in April of strangling schoolgirl Jade Bayliss, 13, stealing items from her family's Barrington St, Christchurch, home and torching it in November 2011.

The jury did not know he had previously been convicted of killing Phillip Vidot, 14, in Perth years earlier.

Outside court, Jade's mother, Tina Bayliss, said: "I'd like to say how happy I am with Jeremy McLaughlin's sentence. I'd like to thank everyone involved for bringing justice to my daughter Jade Louise Bayliss.

"Jade will never be forgotten."

McLaughlin's aunt, Aurora Smith, said outside court that her nephew was innocent.

"This is a very sad day. The Bayliss family have not yet received completion and an innocent man has been sentenced for a murder he did not commit. Those that have done this to Jade and to Jeremy have taken on a spiritual burden," she said.

"Jeremy told the truth when he told the court he did not see Jade that day. Jeremy was repeatedly told he was telling lies of convenience. That is a great shame, because there are people who want to know the truth.

"I'm very disappointed that Jeremy thought for a moment that it was OK to do what he did to people's possessions. He is very sorry and disappointed in himself.

''I'm very disappointed that Jeremy allowed himself to be ... manipulated into the Bayliss home that day and hence to become the smokescreen and the scapegoat for this terrible thing.

"Jeremy is far from the person he has been portrayed. He has taken full responsibility for all that he has done and he cannot do more than that."

The case against McLaughlin was described as overwhelming at his sentencing by Justice Panckhurst, who said it was a brutal and senseless murder.

He said it was disturbing and chilling to see the efficient and emotionless way McLaughlin acted that day after he had taken Jade's life, and in his interview with the police.

McLaughlin continues to deny the murder of Jade, who he strangled when she disturbed him in the burglary of a former partner's home. He then set the house alight with petrol.

Justice Panckhurst said it was simply fatuous to claim that McLaughlin committed the burglary and arson of the house - charges he admitted - but did not commit the murder of the girl.

The judge believed from the evidence at trial that she disturbed him in the burglary and he then strangled her with a ligature and stuffed socks in her mouth before leaving her dead on the floor of her bedroom. He later set the house alight.

McLaughlin was then recorded on camera going about the business of selling items from the burglary. Soon after he left Westfield Riccarton, Jade's wallet was found under where a car had been parked in the car park.

McLaughlin's DNA was found in a sample taken from beneath the girl's fingernail.

Crown prosecutor Brent Stanaway said McLaughlin's life had a common theme of deflecting blame and responsibility.

The sentencing session heard details about the 1995 incident in Western Australia, where McLaughlin was convicted of manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm.

Stanaway told the court: "The offender has now been involved in the killing of two young people. Individual deterrence and community protection are paramount considerations."

Defence counsel Margaret Sewell urged that a minimum non-parole term be imposed rather than life without parole.

She said a psychiatrist's report assessed him as a medium to high risk of future offending, but the psychological report assessed him as a high risk.

The material before the court indicated he felt that revenge on his former partner justified the burglary and arson of the house in Barrington St on November 10, 2011. It was likely that the murder was a chance encounter.

The trial in April was told that Jade was home ill from school that day.

McLaughlin had handed in a letter to the victim's family that he wanted to read out in court, but it was ruled out by Justice Panckhurst because it would not be appropriate because it still contained a denial of the murder.

"In my view, the letter is simply going to inflame the situation rather than effect anything in the nature of an apology."

Tina Bayliss said her daughter had been "the apple of my eye" and she had referred to her as her special friend.

She had been an exceptional pupil, one of Cashmere High School's top 20 pupils.

"I think of her every day."

Bayliss, who had previously been in a relationship with McLaughlin, said: "I blame myself every day ... all the ifs ... if only."

She had had suicidal thoughts and still felt pretty negative about most things in life.

She travelled to Australia to meet the families of the victims of McLaughlin's earlier offending. She came away with a sense of disbelief that someone could offend against three children and still show no remorse.

Jade's father, Gary Bayliss, said the loss of his daughter had "ripped me up inside" because she had been robbed of her whole future.

His own father was a shadow of his former self, and suffered from depression since the loss of Jade.

"We all love you and miss you Jade. You will be in our hearts and thoughts always," his victim-impact statement said.

Justice Panckhurst said McLaughlin was seen as being calm, polite and articulate on the surface, but the psychiatric reports described him as self-focused, vengeful and having a tendency to blame others. He did not have a psychiatric history, nor symptoms of mental illness.

Prospects for rehabilitation were low because of his continuing denials, said the judge.

Imposing the 23-year non-parole term as part of the life sentence, he said McLaughlin would be almost 60 when parole even became an option.

"Then the life sentence will still apply unless you satisfy the Parole Board that you no longer pose a risk to the community," he said.

A few people in the public gallery abused McLaughlin as he was led to the cells.

The Sensible Sentencing Trust today criticised the sentence imposed by Justice Panckhurst.

"If second-time killers - particularly where the victim is vulnerable - do not deserve life without parole, I wonder what does?" national spokesman Garth McVicar said.

"When McLauglin is eligible for parole, Jade Bayliss should have been a vibrant 36-year-old woman in the prime of her life. Her family will be denied all the enjoyment her life could have offered and instead they will be thrown into the stress and turmoil an offender-orientated parole system.

"The Crown must surely now appeal this decision to the Court of Appeal, whose judges can then, at the very least, give some guidance to the judges of the High Court as to what kind of case will warrant a sentence of life without parole."

McLaughlin had killed before

In April, the jury was not told that McLaughlin had been convicted of killing another child, Australian Phillip Vidot in Perth in November 1995, because the right to a fair trial prevents it.

Phillip, 14, and friend Tyron Williams had gone shopping with a friend, but never made it home. Instead, the pair were bashed with a cricket bat, run over by a car and then robbed.

Phillip died hours later while Tyron was in a coma for eight days and still has brain damage.

McLaughlin, Craig Brian Wood and another young man were charged over the attack. McLaughlin and Wood were charged with murder.

McLaughlin admitted wielding the cricket bat and Wood admitted running over the pair.

In a verdict two years later that sparked protest and calls for legislative change, the jury acquitted the pair of murder, but found them guilty of manslaughter.

The pair and the other young man, whose name was suppressed, were also found guilty of causing Tyron grievous bodily harm.

McLaughlin was sentenced to 12 years in jail. He was deported back to New Zealand in 2001.

New Zealand police were told the details of his manslaughter conviction in 2001.

Phillip's mother Marriya Vidot this afternoon told The Press she was relieved to hear McLaughlin had received a lengthy jail term. She struggled to sleep last night at her home in Perth ahead of the sentencing.

''I'm so relieved and happy for Tina and her family. It's not going to bring our kids back - he deserves everything that he's getting," Vidot said.

''I feel so sick in the stomach.

''I wish he[McLaughlin] rots in jail and never comes out because he has taken two innocent lives.''

Phillip's stepfather, Rene Vidot, said he believed McLaughlin should have been locked away for the rest of his natural life.

''He's a cold-blooded killer. He's a thrill killer. He doesn't value life, he doesn't value anything.

''He's the type of person who will probably re-offend.

''At the end of the day he needs a little bit of punishment to feel what pain is all about.''

Jolon Sweeney - convicted of helping McLaughlin try to cover up the burglary and arson of the Bayliss family home in Spreydon - has previously said McLaughlin bragged about having killed a teenager in Australia.

This afternoon Sweeney said he was disappointed McLaughlin did not receive a sentence of life without parole.

''It [the killing] is something I think about every day - I can't get it out of my head.

''People like [McLaughlin] should be put down like a rabid dog.

''He never learnt from the first time and if he gets out he'll never learn again.''

McLaughlin also has a conviction for burglary from 2005, when he was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment.

Jade's killing sparks calls for change

Jade's murder has sparked calls for better information sharing between Australian and New Zealand authorities about serious criminals deported between the two countries.

Justice Minister Judith Collins, the Sensible Sentencing Trust and Tina Bayliss are pushing for changes to the law to prevent similar cases.

After today's sentencing, Collins said she would meet her Australian counterparts in Sydney this week to discuss a new trans-Tasman memorandum of understanding, which would improve the management of New Zealanders who are convicted in Australia and deported back to New Zealand.

Tina Bayliss wants:

• A register of serious criminals deported to New Zealand.

• Continued parole conditions for offenders deported back to New Zealand.

• Better information sharing between Australia and New Zealand about deported criminals.

"There have been three families that have been affected by this and there needs to be no more heartache between Australia and New Zealand," Bayliss told The Press yesterday.

Collins believes authorities should have ''timely access to deportation and conviction information''.

Collins also wants all court decisions published online. The documents would effectively act as a public register of criminals and improve public safety, she said.

Continued parole conditions were unlikely, because they were handed down in different jurisdictions, but "I have directed my officials to analyse the adequacy of existing or proposed orders for providing supervision or monitoring of offenders who return to New Zealand".

The death of a 'gentle and caring' schoolgirl

Tina Bayliss told The Press her daughter was born in Oxfordshire, England, and moved to New Zealand in 2006. She was a bright pupil who excelled in every subject while at Cashmere High School.

Jade was "shy, but social" and had a close net of friends, she said.

"She was always so happy [and] positive. She was just the best daughter."

Jade Bayliss killer has killed before

By Blair Ensor and David Clarkson - Stuff.co.nz

April 23, 2013

The man found guilty today of murdering a Christchurch school girl and then torching her family's home has killed before.

Jeremy George McLaughlin, 35, was this afternoon found guilty of murdering Jade Bayliss, 13, in the Barrington St house in November 2011.

Jade, who was home sick from school, was found dead in her mother's torched house. She had been strangled with a cord and had a sock shoved into her mouth.

McLaughlin had denied killing her, though admitted burglary and arson.

The jury did not accept his claim that he had the ultimate ill fortune to have burgled and then set fire to a Somerfield house where someone else had murdered Jade.

The jury was not told that McLaughlin had been convicted of killing another child, Australian Phillip Vidot in Perth in November 1995, because the right to a fair trial prevents it.

Phillip, 14, and his friend Tyron Williams had gone shopping with a friend, but never made it home. Instead, the pair were bashed with a cricket bat, run over by a car and then robbed.

Vidot died hours later while his mate Tyron Williams was in a coma for eight days and still has brain damage.

McLaughlin, Craig Brian Wood and another young man were charged over the attack. McLaughlin and Wood were charged with murder. McLaughlin admitted wielding the cricket bat and Wood admitted running over the pair.

In a verdict two years later that sparked protest and calls for legislative change the jury acquitted the pair of murder, but found them guilty of manslaughter.

The pair and the other young man, whose name was suppressed, were also found guilty of causing Williams' grievous bodily harm.

McLaughlin was sentenced to 12 years in jail. He was deported back to New Zealand in 2001. New Zealand police were told the details of his manslaughter conviction in 2001.

Phillip's mother Marriya Vidot, 60, said she was shocked when she heard McLaughlin had killed again.

''People in his country should know what he's done,'' she said.

''How many lives does he have to take?''

Coincidences overwhelmed claims of innocence

In the end, the mounting coincidences in the Bayliss case simply overwhelmed Jeremy George Edward McLaughlin's protestations of innocence.

The jury deliberated for about three hours to find him guilty, on the ninth day of the trial before Justice Graham Panckhurst and a jury in the High Court at Christchurch.

When the guilty-of-murder verdict was announced by the jury foreman, there was clapping and cries of “Yes!” from the public gallery, and Jade Bayliss' mother Tina Bayliss shouted: “Bastard!”

Justice Panckhurst told the jury that he agreed entirely with their verdict.

Outside court the head of the police investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant John Rae, fought back tears as he commented on the verdict.

‘‘The police are pleased this case is over, it’s taken a long time to get to this stage, Rae said.

‘‘The shock of this case is not just that someone has been killed, not just that a wee girl has been killed, but the fact that she was killed in her own home where we all expect our kids to be safe.’’

The trial had a remarkable amount of detail about McLaughlin, 35, and his movements on the day of Jade's death.

Some of it was ordinary stuff - shopping, paying his rent - but also selling some of the gear from the burglary at pawn shops.

The most telling point from the defence was that his actions did not accord with someone who had just committed the crime of murdering a teenage girl. He was described by witnesses during the day as being calm and relaxed, not upset or agitated - even "chatty".

Justice Panckhurst also pointed out that his actions were also "not very helpful" for someone who had just committed a burglary - which he has admitted carrying out.

He was certainly not in the flight mode of a desperate killer on the run. How many desperados would pause to pay the rent on their flat?

He left a trail that the Crown and the police unravelled with a meticulous gathering of evidence.

He gave his correct name at the pawn shop. He and his car were on surveillance cameras in the streets, or in a service station, or shopping centre.

And that is where the coincidences undid him, finally.

McLaughlin did not take the remote controls for the televisions he stole from the Bayliss family home, the house of Tina Bayliss, Jade's mother with whom he had previously been in a relationship.

The pawn shop wanted remotes to clinch the deal, so he went to Dick Smith Electronics in Westfield Mall, Riccarton, to buy some universal remotes that he could deliver back to the dealers.

It seems that while he was there he used some notes he had taken from Jade's wallet, and the Crown contended that he then tossed the wallet away, beneath a parked car.

The wallet was quickly retrieved by a shopper and handed over to the police.

But McLaughlin could not admit to having had the wallet if he was going to stick to his story.

He had claimed that Jade was not at home when he burgled the house that morning. He also claimed he had not seen her body in her room when he returned to the house a few hours later to pour petrol through the house and set it alight.

The wallet meant that he had some contact with Jade, that she had not been out as he said, and that he must have been surprised to find her at home sick from school while he was burgling the house.

He had to explain the coincidence of it turning up on the rooftop carpark at Westfield just after the records showed he had been there. He could offer no explanation, even when he gave his own evidence at the trial.

He was left simply trying to convince the jury that he knew nothing of the murder and some other intruder must have entered the house in the time between his two visits and strangled the teenager.

The idea was just not feasible, especially when the Crown provided effective alibi evidence clearing the only other potential suspect, Jolon Erin Scott Sweeney, 42, who McLaughlin claimed to have planned the burglary with.

Cellphone and computer evidence put Sweeney elsewhere. There was no forensic evidence to tie him to the house in Barrington Street that day, November 10, 2011.

But there was plenty of evidence linking McLaughlin to the address. Faced with all that, he had decided to own up to the burglary and arson on the first day of the trial.

And the Crown also had evidence of his DNA being found under one of Jade's fingernails as though she had scratched her attacker. McLaughlin did have a scratch on his wrist, but the trial also heard evidence of him injuring his arm in an accident on a demolition site.

The defence said it could have been indirect transfer, from handling an item of clothing that day, that McLaughlin had left behind at the house when he was in a relationship with Jade Bayliss' mother.

The Crown said it amounted to a compelling case, while the defence said it did not reach the required standard.

McLaughlin will remain in custody until sentencing on June 13 having been caught out and convicted by scientific evidence and the huge "footprint" that we now leave behind on electronic records and security footage wherever we go.

'I didn't know she was in the house'

By David Clarkson - Stuff.co.nz

April 22, 2013

Murder-accused Jeremy McLaughlin could not face up to having murdered Jade Bayliss and that was why he did not pour petrol over her body or in her room, the Crown alleges.

McLaughlin, 35, denies the murder of Jade, 13, at her Somerfield home on November 10, 2011.

He has admitted the burglary and arson of the house where Jade's mother - his former girlfriend - Tina Bayliss lived.

McLaughlin was cross-examined by Crown prosecutor Kathy Bell on the eighth day of his murder trial in the High Court at Christchurch today.

"I didn't kill a 13-year-old," he told the court.

"I didn't know she was in the house."

He said the door had been partially closed to the bedroom where Jade's body lay.

Bell put it to McLaughlin that he had committed the arson to cover up the murder of the teenager, who was at home sick from school on the day he burgled the home.

He said he had not intended to burn the house down, but only to damage it to annoy, stress, and scare Tina Bayliss into leaving New Zealand and returning to Britain.

Bell alleged that when he returned to the house later in the day, he could not face up to the fact that he had killed a 13-year-old girl, and that was why he had not poured petrol over the body or in her room.

"The door was partially closed. I didn't go in," McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said he had been "freaking out" when the police first approached him and his co-offender Jolon Sweeney that day, because they immediately told him that Jade had died.

"The first thing I thought was that I had killed her in the fire."

Bell accused him of "lies of convenience".

She put it to him that he was saying it was "just coincidence" that he was spending three $20 notes - the same description of the cash in Jade Bayliss' wallet - after the burglary, and that her wallet was found on the roof carpark of Westfield Mall, Riccarton, after he had been there.

He said he had not seen her wallet and did not take it.

Bell said it was another "lie of convenience" because having her wallet meant that she had been home during the burglary.

McLaughlin continued to say that he did not see the teenager during the burglary, nor the arson a few hours later.

He was questioned about the likelihood that Jade Bayliss had struggled with her attacker, and Bell put to him that that was how his DNA ended up under one of her fingernails.

McLaughlin was the only witness called by the defence.

The trial will resume at 9.30am tomorrow for closing addresses by the Crown and defence, and the summing up before the jury retires to consider its verdict.

Murder-accused blames friend for fire

McLaughlin earlier said it was Sweeney's idea to burn the house where the teenager was later found dead.

The Crown case has been that the girl was strangled early that day and left lying on the floor of her room.

McLaughlin said he had made a plan with Sweeney, 42, to do the burglary of the home on November 10, 2011, but Sweeney had not showed up.

He told the court he had waited for two-and-a-half hours for Sweeney to arrive so that they could burgle the house.

He was under pressure to make a rent payment, and decided at 10.30am he had to go ahead with the burglary himself.

He drove up the driveway, and found the back door unlocked.

McLaughlin told of taking items from the house, including a television and other electronic gear from Jade's room, but said he did not see the teenager.

When he returned home after the burglary, Sweeney suggested he should go back to the house to steal a lawn mower and a bike and then set the house alight.

McLaughlin said Sweeney told him the fire would make Tina Bayliss scared so that she would quickly return to Britain.

Sweeney has admitted being an accessory after the fact to the burglary and arson.

The Crown has not proceeded with a charge of wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.

McLaughlin said he returned to the house, taking the extra items, and then pouring petrol from a canister through the house and setting it alight.

He said he met Tina Bayliss through his job as a doorman at a hotel and club in July or August 2011, and had quickly ended up "pretty much living at her house".

He told of leaving his job, another job offer falling through, and doing temporary work in the period before November 10, 2011.

He told of getting a graze on his arm while doing demolition work on a house, about November 8.

McLaughlin said Jade had been "disrespectful" on the day of the Bathurst motorrace meeting in Australia, when she wrote a "Ford rules" message in McLaughlin's t-shirt, knowing that he was a Holden supporter.

He had previously thought he had a good relationship with Jade, although she wanted her parents to get back together.

He and Tina Bayliss had a couple of days apart after that incident, but then it returned to normal for a time, before he received what he called "Dear John" break-up messages by text.

There was no animosity until later, about November 6, when Tina Bayliss had an issue with Sweeney.

He told the court that Sweeney and Tina Bayliss had hated each other from then.

When Sweeney was at her house, he had noted a lot of designer gear that he said would be easy to sell after a burglary, and they planned to burgle the house on November 10.

He told of selling the gear from the burglary at a pawn shop, and going with Sweeney to McLeans Island where they dumped other items.

The Crown says Jade died from strangulation on the floor of her room before the fire was lit following the burglary that day.

Man admits helping murder-accused

The Crown is no longer proceeding with a charge of wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice against Jolon Erin Scott Sweeney, 42.

But Sweeney has admitted the charges of being an accessory after the fact by helping McLaughlin to avoid arrest or conviction, knowing that he had committed the crimes of burglary and arson.

Sweeney entered his pleas as the eighth day of the trial began in Christchurch.

The trial paused on Friday to hear legal argument in the absence of the jury.

Sweeney was alleged to have helped McLaughlin conceal evidence of the burglary and arson by dumping items at McLean's Island.

Justice Graham Panckhurst has remanded Sweeney on bail for sentence.

Jade died before fire - pathologist

By Anne Clarkson - Stuff.co.nz

April 18, 2013

Jade Bayliss died of ligature neck compression before a fire started in her Christchurch home, a pathologist told a High Court trial today.

The trial of Jeremy George Edward McLaughlin, 35, for the alleged murder of the 13-year-old at her home in Barrington St, Somerfield, on November 10, 2011, heard its seventh day of evidence.

McLaughlin denies the murder charge but has admitted burgling the house, where the teenager was home sick from school, and the arson of the house.

Katherine White, who performed Jade's autopsy, said there were some injuries on the teenager but no soot in her windpipe, lungs or mouth, which suggested she died before the fire started.

White said Jade had an abrasion around her neck and pinpoint haemorrhages of both eyes and the lining of her gums.

She also had a congested face, an abrasion in the centre of her upper lip and small abrasions behind her right earlobe.

There was a vague discolouration under her chin, bruising near her right breast and two bruises inside her right arm.

The marks around her neck were 105 millimetres long and 7mm wide, with no pattern to show what had caused them, she said.

If death was instantaneous there would have been no time for her flushed look to have occurred, and it was unlikely there would be lung fluid present, she said.

The cause of death was ligature neck compression, but it was difficult to determine how long force had been applied before she died.

The marks on Jade's neck suggested that she was in front of her assailant, she said.

An Environmental Science and Research DNA profiler and analyst said there was a low level of DNA from McLaughlin present under the fingernails of Jade's right hand.

Timothy Power said most foreign DNA - DNA from someone other than Jade - would be lost within 24 hours.

It was not possible to determine if there was skin or blood under the fingernails, he said.

The police doctor who examined McLaughlin on the day after Jade's death said McLaughlin had a patch of three to four grazes on his right wrist, which he said happened on a demolition site.

David Mann said the abrasions would have happened within a few days before the examination, and fingernails could have caused them.

Jolon Erin Scott Sweeney, 42, is on trial at the same time as McLaughlin.

He is facing charges of wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice and being an accessory after the fact by helping McLaughlin to avoid arrest or conviction, knowing that he had committed burglary and arson.