Eye witness report - Lundy Truth

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Eye witness report

Case Facts

This formal statement was made to Police on 6th October 2000 ( approximately 6 weeks after the murders were committed ). Lines giving names have been removed for legal reasons.

The eye witness states:

On the evening of Tuesday the 29th of August 2000 at about 7.00pm, I had visitors arrive at my home just as I was getting ready to leave.

They parked their vehicle, which is white, on the opposite side of the road to my house facing up towards Rhodes Drive, approximately outside number 10 Hillcrest Drive.

REF (WITNESS TO REFER TO STREET DIAGRAM)

This couple only stayed about 5 to 10 minutes as I explained that I was about to go out to the St Mary's Ladies' Choir practice which was being held at my friend's address in Shelley Street, Palmerston North.

As my friends left I stepped out onto the front verandah with them to see them off. I watched them walk down the driveway and across the road to their vehicle. As they got into their vehicle I waved and went back inside my house.

I only stood on the verandah, just outside the ranchslider door, I did not follow them down the driveway. From where I was standing I think I could see the rear end of another vehicle parked directly opposite my address - this vehicle would have been parked about two car lengths in front of my friends vehicle.

The rest of this vehicle was obscured by shrubbery, vegetation and my large acacia tree which at that time was on the front of my section towards the boundary with No.1 Hillcrest Dr.

I went back inside my house, finished getting ready to go & checked the clock in my kitchen on the wall above the oven - this clock is accurate, I last corrected it for daylight saving using the speaking clock through the telecom service on the weekend of the 30th September 2000, on checking the clock I noted that the time was between 7.10pm and 7.15pm.

I went straight out to my vehicle which is a white Pontiac Le Mans and proceeded to back out of my driveway.

By this stage it was quite dark however, I noticed over my left shoulder as I backed out of the driveway, a vehicle parked on the kerb-side immediately outside my address.

At that stage I had a large Acacia tree on my front garden.

This vehicle was parked just in front of this tree back from my driveway slightly, close to the boundary with number 1 Hillcrest Drive.

I would have had my vision of this vehicle obscured by the Acacia tree and other vegetation when I had been standing on my verandah.

REF (WITNESS TO REFER TO STREET DIAGRAM)

This vehicle was parked against the kerb facing towards Lyndale Place.

I backed out on to Hillcrest Drive and then drove forward towards Rhodes Drive.

I have no recollection of the vehicle which had been parked in front of my friends vehicle still being there at this stage.

I only remember the vehicle parked in front of my Acacia tree, I didn't actually look at this vehicle again as I drove past it towards Rhodes Drive, it was just there in my peripheral vision.

I can describe this vehicle as dark coloured, my impression is dark blue.

It looked like a new vehicle, very modern looking and expensive.

It had flowing lines and looked streamlined and rounded as opposed to square-shaped.

I did not see anybody around the vehicle.

I have not seen this vehicle there either before or since the early evening of the 29th of August 2000.

I drove up to the intersection of Hillcrest and Rhodes Drive and turned left into Rhodes Drive.

I had only just turned into Rhodes Drive when I saw on my left, on the opposite side to the shops on Rhodes Drive, and heading towards me, a person that I initially thought was female - due to the hair - running.
As I came closer to this person I realised that it was actually a male mainly because of the body shape, I had expected to see large breasts due to the size of the person, there would normally have been what I can only describe as a "shelf" where the breasts come out and the clothing goes straight down however this person had no such breasts and there was just a "slope" going out over the stomach.

It was definitely a male who gave a superficial impression of being female.

REF (WITNESS TO REFER TO STREET DIAGRAM)

He was running like he was in a real hurry.

The person running appeared to be a biggish build - fat, with a fat round face.

This person was quite bulky in stature and was definitely Caucasian.

I got the impression of curly hair, I'm sure it was fair coloured hair.

I would describe his hair as being corkscrew-type curls and the hair sort of flopped around his face and hung over his forehead but not to cover his eyes.

The hair looked like it was a wig that had been put on in a hurry and with the running was actually slipping down.

I can't remember details of his facial features except to say that he had a desperate, frantic look on his face which I would describe as an "agonised" expression as he ran towards me.

It is possible that he was wearing glasses but I can't be definite.

It was his manner of running that attracted my attention. He looked like a fat person who didn't normally run. He looked very uncomfortable. He was running the whole time I saw him.

I particularly took notice of him and I remember that his hair looked at odds with his features.

He was running faster than a jog and looked as though he was putting a lot of effort into it.

As he ran towards me, he passed under a street lamp on Rhodes Drive. About opposite Anakiwa Street.

The street lamp was on my left on the opposite side of the street to the shops.

As I approached him he ran underneath this street lamp into the light.

This person was wearing a two-tone tracksuit-style top and I would say trackpants.

When I think of seeing him under the street lamp I can recall the top part of the tracksuit top he was wearing as being a lighter colour on top.

I remember a diagonal line on the sleeves at about the upper arm height, the lower part of the sleeve may have been a darker colour.

The top half came down into a 'V' diagonally down the sleeves then diagonally down the chest until the 'V' came to a point in the lower chest area.

The zip on the track-top was done up to the mid-chest area.

I could definitely see a shirt and tie underneath the track-top.

I don't know what colour they were only that the tie was a darker colour than the shirt.

The trackpants I believe could have been a light blue and the tracksuit top would have been light blue on the bottom part of the "V" and either yellow or white on the top part of the "V".

The style of the tracksuit was not overly baggy but not stretched tight either - the trackpants did look slightly wrinkled around the ankle area.

The whole thing attracted my attention, the hair, the tracksuit, the shirt and tie, and the look on the guy's face were all incongruous.

I am unable to describe the shoes he was wearing but I don't believe they were running shoes.

It just didn't look right.

I would have passed him about halfway between Hillcrest Dr. and the street light by Anakiwa St.. After passing him I did not look for him in my rear view mirror - I am sure there were either one or two cars coming towards me and I was concentrating on turning right into Karamea Crescent.

I travelled up Karamea Crescent towards Kelvin Grove Road and did not notice anything else unusual in the street.

From the time that I left home, I would say that it was approximately 7.15pm when I saw the person running.

I did notice that there were three people sitting in the fish & chip shop on Rhodes Dr. with their backs to the front window.

There was also a male person standing just inside the door of the fish & chip shop leaning against the wall - side onto the road - he was Caucasian tall, either a shaven head or a No.1 haircut, wearing either a jacket or a tracksuit top which was open. There were also two people behind the counter serving.

I also remember a Maori person with their head down unsure whether male or female as I didn't see the face, walking towards Karamea Crescent just in front of the shops.

This person had long dark hair to the middle of their back, looked very thin and was wearing all black.

My choir practice finished at approximately 9.00pm and I then went straight to my partner's address in Hokowhitu.

I would have left his place between 11.00pm & 11.30pm and arrived back home to my address some 15 minutes later - definitely no later than 11.45pm.

I travelled home via Main Street, Keith Street, Mihaere Drive, Kaimanawa Street, and then into Rhodes Drive and Hillcrest Drive.

There were definitely no vehicles parked on the kerb-side, either outside my address or anywhere at all at the top of Hillcrest Drive when I returned home.

Once the investigation into the homicides started I did see newspaper articles about it but I only skim read these because it was too close to home for me and scared me. After a few days I remembered that I had seen a couple of strange things that week.

I then went back to my diary and through the process of elimination I was able to determine what day of the week I had seen both incidents.

As a result I came into the police station on the 5th September 2000 to report what I had seen.

After speaking to the Police I have made a conscious effort not to read any newspaper articles about what has happened or to look at any photographs as I did not want to cloud what I remembered myself.

I unavoidably saw some pictures and articles in the newspapers, but I always put them aside without looking at them closely.

However, some time after I had spoken to the Police on the 5th and 6th September 2000 and made statements about what I had seen, I did see a television news article on Television One which showed a photograph of the LUNDY family.

As soon as I saw the picture of Mark LUNDY on the television it caught my eye and I immediately recognised him as the person I had seen running.

I am certain that the male person I saw running on Rhodes Drive towards Hillcrest Drive at 7.15pm on Tuesday the 29th of August 2000 was Mark LUNDY.

I can say this because of the shape of his face and upper body, once I saw him on the television, I was certain that the two people were the same.

I do not know Mark LUNDY and I have not seen him before or since.

I believe that I do have a photographic memory, I have always had the ability to remember things in the form of pictures - the more I think about a certain thing the more I am able to recall.

When I sat examinations as a teenager if I found it difficult to remember something then I would visualise the relevant page in my text book and basically read it back to myself.

This statement is true to the best of my knowledge and belief. It has been made by me knowing that it may be admitted as evidence in criminal proceedings and that I could be prosecuted for making a statement known by me to be false and intended by me to mislead.

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