A former debt collector and an ex-stripper who murdered a young Christchurch mother 28-years ago have been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 10 years.  

David Hawken, 50, and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum, 51, were last year found guilty by a jury in the High Court at Christchurch of murdering Angela Blackmoore on August 17, 1995.  

A third person, Jeremy Powell, also earlier admitted murdering Blackmoore. He alleged he carried out the killing on Hawken’s instruction after he allegedly offered $10,000 for the killing to help free up a property deal. He said that Wright-Meldrum, who was his partner at the time, accompanied him to Blackmoore’s home and that she used her friendship with Blackmoore to gain entry to the house. 

Rebecca Wright-Meldrum and David Hawken appeared for sentence at the High Court at Christchurch on April 19 for the murder of Angela Blakcmoore. Photo / POOL / Ian McGregor 

Blackmoore, 21, was about nine weeks pregnant when she was murdered, and her 2-year-old son was asleep in the house. Her partner Laurie Anderson was at work and their flatmate was out of town. 

She was struck with a bat and stabbed with a knife, suffering 39 stab wounds to her head, neck, chest, abdomen and limbs. 

Despite a “massive police investigation” dubbed Operation Vancouver, no one was arrested for 25 years. 

Angela Blackmoore was 21 when she died at her home in August 1995. Photo / Supplied 

In the High Court at Christchurch today, Justice Rachel Dunningham sentenced Hawken and Wright-Meldrum to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 10 years. 

Blackmoore’s loved ones each read out their victim impact statements. 

Gillian Pervis, Blackmoore’s cousin asked the defendants what made them think they had the right to partake in such a brutal murder. 

“Did Angie’s cries not mean anything to you?” 

She said her cousin’s life was worth more than any amount of money and the pair had not only killed Blackmoore but denied the right for a baby to live. 

David Hawken appeared for sentence in the High Court at Christchurch on April 19 for the murder of Angela Blackmoore. Photo / POOL / Ian McGregor 

Blackmoore’s other cousin, Lianne Keen said she has been waiting since she was 13 years old to have the people responsible for her older cousin’s murder brought to justice. 

She was disgusted with the pair’s lack of remorse and attitudes while they sat on the dock during their trial, shaking their heads as evidence against them was presented. 

“Rot in hell the pair of you.” 

Blackmoore’s niece Stacey said Blackmoore was a beautiful woman who had an unforgettable giggle. 

She said Blackmoore had found true love and had an amazing future ahead, but it was taken away by Hawken and Wright-Meldrum who knew she was pregnant when she was killed. 

“Both of you are evil scumbags. 

“You’ve destroyed so many lives and you just don’t care.” 

Rebecca Wright-Meldrum appeared for sentence in the High Court at Christchurch for the murder of Angela Blackmoore. Photo / POOL / Ian McGregor 

Blackmoore’s partner Laurie Anderson said he had found his “dream woman” who loved him just as much as he loved her. 

He said he would rub Blackmoore’s tummy at night knowing they were making a beautiful baby together and had many plans for the future, but these were ripped away from them. 

“You are sheer evil and if anyone deserves the death sentence it would be you.” 

He said the glow in her eyes and excitement for the future was “intoxicating” and she had started a new life. 

Anderson said he still feels guilty about being at work the night Blackmoore was murdered as he was not there to protect her when she needed him. 

Justice Dunningham said the main issue for the sentencing was to consider whether a minimum period of imprisonment of ten years was justified. 

The judge said the motive was particularly repugnant as it was financially driven offending, worsened by the fact that the victim was pregnant. 

David Peter Hawken during his trial in December last year charged with murdering Angela Blackmoore on August 17, 1995. Photo / George Heard. 

Crown prosecutor Pip Currie said the pair had shown no remorse and had carried on living their lives following the murder and a sentence of life imprisonment would be justified for both. 

Hawken’s lawyer, Anne Stevens KC asked the judge to consider her client’s age at the time of the killing, stating that people in their early 20′s are less likely to consider the impact of their offending. 

She said as a young person, Hawken had made a lot of bad decisions but had made better decisions since growing up and had a partner who described him as “loving and generous”. 

Wright-Meldrum’s lawyer said she had a difficult upbringing and became involved in sex work and stripping. 

Wright-Meldrum experienced “considerable trauma” in her young life but was now a different person, had rehabilitated herself and was living a “quiet life” with her partner before her arrest. 

In 2019, following up on new information, police arrested three people: Jeremy Crinis James Powell, David Peter Hawken and Rebecca Elizabeth Jane Wright-Meldrum. 

In December last year, a jury found Hawken and Wright-Meldrum guilty of murder after 14 hours of deliberations. Powell had earlier admitted the killing and was sentenced. 

The trial 

In her closing address to the jury, Crown prosecutor Pip Currie said there was “overwhelming” and “compelling” evidence to prove both defendants were guilty of murder. 

Powell’s evidence was “powerful” and while he lied initially to police in 1995 when spoken to, when he was interviewed again 24 years on he admitted his involvement and explained how it happened, and who he did it with. 

The jury could convict on Powell’s evidence alone but the jury had “corroboration” in several respects, Currie said. 

Rebecca Elizabeth Jane Wright-Meldrum iduring her trial in December charged with murdering Angela Blackmoore on August 17, 1995. Photo / George Heard. 

She referred to Hawken’s partner at the time, Toni Parris, who said there were several meetings between Hawken, Wright-Meldrum and Powell at the Cashel St home she lived in with Hawken before Blackmoore’s murder. 

Besides Powell’s evidence, Currie also pointed to evidence from Tina Cartwright, who claimed to the jury she played a game of Dungeons and Dragons with the couple shortly after the murder. 

She said she asked the couple if they had been up to anything exciting, to which Wright-Meldrum said they had killed somebody and they had stabbed them, that the person had let them into the house, and that they were an “ex-friend”. 

Cartwright asked who committed the murder and Powell said he did it, but Wright-Meldrum said she was also involved. 

She also pointed to Blackmoore’s ex-husband, William Blackmoore. At the time of Blackmoore’s murder, Hawken was “assisting” the couple, who had separated, with the sale of one of their properties. The property needed to be sold to reduce the debt on their mortgage and protect their home on Cashel St from being sold. 

In his evidence, William Blackmoore told the jury that two years after the murder he served a trespass notice on Hawken, who then allegedly threatened him by saying he would name him as the reason for Hawken getting Blackmoore killed. 

Intercepted phone calls also played a significant part in the trial. About 15 minutes after being called by police in October 2019 about being interviewed, Wright-Meldrum called her partner to say if she was not home to assume she had been arrested. 

In a call with someone else, she said she was going to prison and made arrangements for her animals and her home. 

William Blackmoore during the Angela Blackmoore murder trial held at the Christchurch High Court 14 November 2023. Photo / POOL / Chris Skelton 

In another call, which Currie said was a “slam dunk”, Wright-Meldrum said Blackmoore’s murder had nothing to do with any gang, and that while police were interested in gangs “we were safe, and now we are f.....”. 

Currie rebutted the suggestion Hawken was only trying to help the Blackmoores, and was “the good guy”. 

“It’s pretty clear that David Hawken was not just getting involved here to help out a mate, he had his eye on Cashel St for his own ulterior motives,” she said. 

“He got involved because he was only thinking about one person and that was David Hawken. 

Emily Moorhouse is a Christchurch-based Open Justice journalist at NZME. She joined NZME in 2022. Before that, she was at the Christchurch Star. 

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.