Ashburton’s job and income killer Russell Tully loses appeal

Work and Income double killer Russell John Tully has lost an appeal against his conviction and sentence.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Tully’s challenge in a decision published this afternoon.

Tully is serving a life sentence with a minimum period of 27 years without parole for the Winz murders in 2014.

Tully was convicted in 2016 of robbing the Ashburton Winz Center at 9.51 a.m. on September 1, 2014 and shooting receptionist Peggy Noble, 67, point-blank and shooting case manager Susan Leigh Cleveland, 55. , three times as she begged. for his life.

At his trial in February 2016, Tully represented himself after firing seven attorneys previously.

He was barred from the courtroom for much of the trial after persistently interrupting proceedings in an attempt to have the trial aborted.

Tully was found guilty of the Noble and Cleveland murders, and the attempted murder of Adams.

He was also convicted of two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, but was acquitted of the charges of attempting to murder Curtis and setting a trap for his pursuers while fleeing the scene.

The judgment of the Court of Appeal issued today said it agreed [with the judgment] that there is a compelling need for community protection and that Tully’s “sense of entitlement is likely to put him in conflict with others and is capable of being very dangerous.”

He said that because these characteristics are primarily the product of a personality disorder, there is no reason to be optimistic about rehabilitation.

“Mr. Tully’s intractable sense of grievance, which is evident in all his dealings with the Court, may well impede treatment.”

He said he agreed that Tully has no regrets.

“The only possible mitigating factor is your mental health,” he said.

“We also accept that, had it not been for that illness, Mr. Tully might not have approached Winz or become as insistent as he was in receiving what he thought were his rights.”

“However, it was his narcissistic sense of entitlement rather than his delusional skin disorder that explained his animosity towards Winz.”

The NZ Herald reported that throughout his 2016 trial in Christchurch Superior Court, it was clear that Tully was concerned about what he felt was a debilitating skin condition, and that he used peroxide to treat it.

When an Ashburton Winz manager first met Tully in July 2014, he told her she had “some kind of skin eating disorder” that she used peroxide to treat.

He was upset when Winz’s staff said they couldn’t help him with cash to buy the hydrogen peroxide bottles that he stuck in his ear.

The Court of Appeals decision said that his “planned, organized and determined behavior that extended to disguise and escape” clearly indicates that he understood well what he was doing.

He added that he considered Tully “an intelligent man who behaved strategically throughout his trial, and this appeal” and who took advantage of “his health complaints to escape accountability for his actions.”