Juliet Hulme (1939 - living) New Zealand - UK Murderer, writer Tea-shop proprietor Agnes Ritchie was shocked when two bloodstained teenage girls ran screaming into her kiosk in Victoria Park. Her husband Kenneth was even more shocked when he went where they told him, and found a woman's body, badly beaten about the head. It was June 22, 1954, and violent death was rare in conservative Christchurch. The girls' story, that the mother of one of them, Honora Parker, had fallen and repeatedly banged her head, soon fell apart; her injuries were too horrific. A bloodied half-brick and a lisle stocking were found nearby and quickly established as the murder weapon. Pauline Parker's diary was found immediately by the police and detailed their plans for the crime: Pauline (16) and later Juliet Hulme (15) were charged with murder. Other entries in Pauline's diary suggested a sexual relationship between the girls, and this helped to establish the crime as one linking the twin spectres of lesbianism and murder. The class-difference between the girls was an important element of the trial. Juliet was the elder child of Hilda Hulme, a vice-president of the Marriage Guidance Council, and Dr Henry Hulme, rector of Canterbury University College, while Pauline's father, Herbert Rieper, ran a fish-shop, and was legally married to another woman. The two elements of Pauline's diary on which attention has focussed since selected entries were presented at the trial are the gangster-movie tone in which they planned the killing and the sexual relations between the girls. Their friendship was passionate and mutual, and entered New Zealand mythology on homosexuality as a cautionary tale with which to warn women, and especially young girls, of the possible consequences of such "unnatural" relationships. The trial was a cause celebre, crowds packing every session. Both prosecution and defence agreed that the girls failed the test for legal insanity - they knew the nature and quality of their act: "they knew what they were doing and they knew that it was wrong." It took the jury less than three hours to find both girls guilty of murder. Since they were under 18, they could not be sentenced to death, so they were imprisoned in different prisons "during Her Majesty's pleasure." Both girls were given excellent educational opportunities in prison. They were released separately after five years, and apparently never saw each other again. Juliet immediately went overseas, converting to Mormonism and eventually settling in Scotland, where she made a new identity (which she has recently disclosed) as a successful author of Victorian murder mysteries, Anne Perry. Pauline remained on probation in New Zealand, not leaving the country until 1965. She attended Auckland University, mixed in the Auckland lesbian community and told at least one lover about her past. She now lives as a recluse in a small English village. Extracts from a writing by Hugh Young and Alison J. Laurie © 1995-2002 Queer History New Zealand Hulme is now called Anne Perry. She lives in a small Scottish fishing village and is a best selling U.S. author, who writes mystery books. She has had no contact with Pauline Parker since their conviction, nearly 40 years ago, which was a condition of their sentence. She says she has tried to forget what happened and as a mature woman, believes she has long since paid her dues.

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