A Stallones pizza delivery person was the last to see 21-year-old Angela Blackmoore alive.
The alleged cold case killing of Blackmoore saw the young woman stabbed with a knife and bludgeoned with a bat 39 times on the evening of August 17, 1995, in a contract killing the Crown says three people were involved in plotting.
She was 10 weeks pregnant when she was killed in the kitchen of her home - her two-year-old son slept through the attack.
Rebecca Wright-Meldrum, 51, and 50-year-old David Hawken are jointly charged with her murder, in a case that’s been investigated by police for almost three decades under the name Operation Vancouver. They are both on bail throughout the trial, and deny any involvement in the killing.
Pizza deliver person Kerry Whiteman’s evidence was read to the High Court at Christchurch today.
“I remember the woman because she was a bit weird, I don’t know if it was because she couldn’t spell Stallones. I heard noise in the background but it could have been the TV.”
The Crown told the jury a third person - Jeremy Powell - has already pleaded guilty to the murder.
He told police he was to be paid $10,000 by murder accused and gang associate Hawken for carrying out the hit.
The Crown alleges Hawken’s motive was a desire to gain control of property co-owned by Blackmoore and her ex-husband.
Before her death, Blackmoore had gone shopping with her fiance Laurie Anderson, and put a highchair on laybuy for their unborn baby.
When he was called to work late at the University library, she was upset. She rang her mother for reassurance, and for help with the spelling of the words Stallone’s and thirteen as she filled out a cheque to pay for her pizza.
Her mother Pauline Keane’s statement was read to the court.
“She said she didn’t like being alone as she felt a little nervous. I told her to check the windows and doors. She said everything was locked up.”
Blackmoore also called her partner’s mother, Mary Anderson, who said in her written statement “I get on with her pretty well but her mentality is not the best, she used to be a glue sniffer... she calls me mum”.
They’d agreed to watch Blue Heelers and phone each other afterwards to discuss the show, but Blackmoore never rang.
Anderson raised the alarm with her son, who returned home to the grisly scene. He called 111 for help. An ambulance arrived at Vancouver St at 11:30pm.
Paramedic Christopher McKay described the scene to the court.
“I got to the kitchen and saw a woman slumped against the wall, she had extensive congealed blood on her face. There were no visible signs of life.. her colour suggested she may have been dead for some time.. she was cold and it appeared rigor mortis may have set in.”
The jury will hear evidence from ESR forensics scientists this afternoon as the four week trial continues.
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