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John Kirk-Anderson / Stuff
Murder convicted Russell John Tully is appealing his life sentence.
Ashburton Work and Income shooter Russell John Tully is fighting a conviction that earned him a life sentence with a minimum of 27 years behind bars.
Tully, who was described as “a very dangerous man” by a High Court judge after killing two women during the targeted shooting spree, is serving one of the longest sentences ever handed down in New Zealand.
Longer sentences have only been imposed on the March 15th mosque shooter, triple killer William Bell and double killer Bruce Howse.
Tully entered the Labor and Income office in Mid-Canterbury on September 1, 2014 armed with a shotgun. His intention was to shoot staff out of a sense of injury, thinking that he was treated unfairly for several months.
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He was convicted in 2016 of the murders of receptionist Peggy Turuhira Noble and social worker Susan Leigh Cleveland, and the attempted murder of Kim Elizabeth Adams, whom he shot with the shotgun but failed when she escaped through the back door of the offices. He was found not guilty of attempting to murder Lindy Curtis, whom he shot in the thigh.
STACY SQUIRES / FAIRFAX NZ.
A Christchurch Superior Court jury found Tully guilty of killing Work and Income workers Peggy Noble and Leigh Cleveland on Monday, September 1, 2014, and guilty of the attempted murder of Kim Adams.
His rampage lasted 61 seconds, in which he fired six shots and was captured by security camera footage.
During the trial, Tully claimed that the Crown’s evidence and other reports were a “cover up.”
Tully’s appeal against his conviction and sentence is being heard in the Christchurch Court of Appeals. Represents himself in the audience.
On Thursday, he entered court and sat on the law benches flanked by three prison officers.
Tully’s appeal relies heavily on her claim that she was chronically unwell during the trial and pretrial court proceedings. He claimed the Department of Corrections withheld the over-the-counter medications he used to treat his alleged anonymous condition, rendering him “unable to understand anything” at the time.
He told the court that his condition was caused by a genetic chromosomal abnormality associated with a number of autoimmune disorders that can cause cognitive dysfunction.
WAYNNE WILLIAMS
Tully at his trial in Christchurch Superior Court in 2016.
This was also the reason why he was unable to show any remorse at the time, he said.
“It just wasn’t working properly,” he told the court.
He claimed that his defense attorney did not follow his instructions and raised “medical mental health issues” that were crucial to his case.
He said he was kept in the management unit at the Christchurch Men’s Prison, which is not suitable for someone with mental health problems.
Tully claimed that while preparing for the trial he did not have glasses and was unable to read the revelation correctly.
“The corrections misled the court in my preparations for trial and appeal,” he said.
The first witness to be called was Tully’s former defense attorney, Christchurch attorney James Rapley QC.
During questioning, Rapley described his difficulty relating to Tully in preparation for the trial, saying that he was concerned about a perceived “skin condition” that he claimed was affecting his brain and causing him to be in no condition to stand trial.
He described how Tully claimed during an interview, shortly after Rapley was assigned to the case, that he had not carried out the shooting. When Rapley told him that if he hadn’t, a claim of insanity wouldn’t be relevant.
“Then he changed positions and said ‘oh, he could have been the shooter’ and then he went back to the insane look,” Rapley said.
When Tully was given the opportunity to question Rapley, he repeatedly asked why Rapley had not referred Tully to a specialist for examination after he told him about his affliction and that he had a mental illness.
Rapley said he already had information from two reports by a psychologist and a psychiatrist, as well as the results of medical tests.
He said that he did not find that Tully suffered from “neurosis”, a term used by Tully, and that Tully seemed to be able to understand what was happening, discuss issues about the case and interact with his attorney.
The hearing continues.
