Bruce Howse

Case record: Bruce Howse

Background

Bruce Howse was the partner of Charlene Aplin and the stepfather of Saliel Aplin and Olympia Jetson.

Gillian Holdem described a relationship with Bruce Howse that ended 13 years earlier. She said she had fallen in love with him at age 15, had five children with him, lost teeth from his beatings, and described his jealousy as “knew no bounds”. She said after he saw her talking to a man they both knew, he deliberately drove the family car into a power pole, jumping clear himself before the impact, sending Miss Holdem and their 3-year-old son to hospital. She said their only daughter was bashed as a toddler, resulting in a black eye. She said it was not the first time he had hurt the child and that it would not be the last.

Gillian Holdem said that after Howse threatened to kill her if she went out with anyone else, she took the threat seriously. She said that when the girls were murdered, she had been told initially that her own sons had been stabbed to death, and that when she learned it was not the case she went to Masterton to see her boys and told a senior sergeant: “Don’t let him get away with it.”

Child, Youth and Family records referred to Olympia Jetson and Saliel Aplin, Ms Aplin’s children from previous relationships, and Mr Howse’s children from previous relationships.

The offence

Olympia Jetson and Saliel Aplin were murdered in their beds in the sleepout of their Masterton home.

The Court found Bruce Howse guilty of murdering his stepdaughters Saliel Aplin, 12, and Olympia Jetson, 11. The killing was described as stabbing them to death in the early hours of December 4. The verdict was said to have come exactly a year after the sisters were stabbed to death in their beds in the sleepout of their Masterton home.

A court summing-up described that the Crown maintained Howse killed the girls and the defence claimed it was their mother, Charlene Aplin. The judge told the jury that if there was a reasonable possibility that Ms Aplin had done it, the jury had to acquit.

The sentencing judge accepted that Howse was molesting the girls and said that was his motive for the killings.

During sentencing, Justice Goddard said that Howse waited while Olympia suffered an “horrendous death” to make sure she would not live to talk.

Investigation

The Crown prosecutor Grant Burston said Howse attempted to avoid moral responsibility for the girls’ deaths.

Grant Burston said that during a confession Howse described exact detail that no one else could have known unless they had killed the girls. Mr Burston also said a note by Olympia stated: “My dad is going to kill me”.

Grant Burston warned the jury that they were not setting out to prove that Howse sexually abused the girls, but said it was something to consider as part of the background leading up to the killings and that Howse had known about allegations Olympia had made.

Grant Burston said the allegation that Ms Aplin had done it was “rubbish”, described as “a pack of lies constructed to avoid the moral responsibility of these killings”. He said Howse made up stories and “wild goose chases” for the police, and he referred to “voices in his head for the doctor”, and then shifting blame to Ms Aplin when they did not work.

The defence lawyer Val Nisbet said the police had picked out Howse as the prime suspect too early and gathered evidence that led to him without considering the overall picture. He said it had to be a possibility that Ms Aplin had killed the girls.

Justice Goddard said Howse had waited while Olympia suffered an horrendous death to make sure she would not live to talk.

Arrest

A report section described that police threatened to charge Gillian Holdem with kidnapping and searched her friends’ homes in the middle of the night during a period when she hid her daughter.

Trial

The trial involved competing explanations of who killed the girls.

The jury in the High Court at Wellington found Bruce Howse guilty after six hours of deliberation.

Justice Goddard’s summing up said the jury had to decide which of the two parents killed the girls and that the incident arose out of domestic family dynamics of the household. The judge’s instruction was that if there was a reasonable possibility that Ms Aplin had done it, the jury had to acquit.

Justice Goddard said she unequivocally accepted Howse was molesting the girls and that this was his motive.

Grant Burston said Howse tried to avoid moral responsibility for the girls’ deaths.

Val Nisbet told the jury: “Howse was not an angel and nor is Charlene,”.

Justice Goddard said: “It was the most cruel of all....Anyone who had to sit through your trial and had to hear the evidence against you which was overwhelming could have no doubt whatsoever about your guilt.”

Justice Goddard said: “You should never be released back into the community.”

Sentencing

At the High Court in Wellington, Justice Lowell Goddard sentenced Howse to life for the murders of Saliel and Olympia on December 18, 2002, with a non-parole period of 28 years.

Justice Goddard said there were no mitigating factors whatsoever and gave reasons for the long sentence including “vindictive viciousness and inability to admit remorse for the crimes”.

Justice Goddard said she had considered a recent appeal extending double murderer Mark Lundy’s non-parole period from 17 to 21 years when deciding the sentence in this case.

Justice Goddard said she “unequivocally accepted Howse was molesting the girls and that was his motive for the killings.”

Justice Goddard said to lie about the girls’ mother Charlene Aplin’s involvement in the murders was the most terrible thing about the incident, adding: “It was the most cruel of all....Anyone who had to sit through your trial and had to hear the evidence against you which was overwhelming could have no doubt whatsoever about your guilt.”

Justice Goddard also said: “You are concerned only for yourself and self is your only preoccupation,”.

The probation report was said to have shown that he had no guilt and no remorse, was unmotivated to change, and was anti-social.

After sentencing, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Oxnam said he was delighted with the sentence and said: “There was no evidence that Charlene was in any way involved in the killing of the sisters.”

Defence lawyer Ken Daniels said there had not yet been a decision on whether to appeal the sentence.

On appeal, the non-parole period was reduced to 25 years.

Appeals

The Court of Appeal reduced the non-parole period from 28 years to 25 years.

Outcome

Bruce Howse was convicted of murdering his stepdaughters Saliel Aplin, 12, and Olympia Jetson, 11, by stabbing them to death in their Masterton home in the early hours of December 4.

At sentencing, the High Court imposed a life sentence with a non-parole period of 28 years, later reduced to 25 years on appeal.

Aftermath

The principal of the school where Masterton 12-year-old Saliel Aplin went to school said the conviction would help the community move on and described closure for the community and the school community, saying: “I will be going around classes and just making sure they're all aware that the verdict has been reached and that we actually move on.”

The principal also said that the murders had resulted in initiatives in the Masterton and Wairarapa communities formulated to “rise above the violence, to actually highlight domestic violence and alert the community that this has just got to stop... which is really a positive outcome,” and said: “The tragedy of it is that these sort of events have to occur before those sort of initiatives get formulated,”.

National MP Katherine Rich said Child Youth and Family (CYF) had “failed miserably” in protecting the sisters from abuse, adding: “CYF has been involved with this family for almost a decade. It beggars belief that a serious warning about child abuse was treated so lightly,”.

Katherine Rich said evidence of abuse was downplayed by a CYF social worker and said: “We now have every right to expect a full explanation from CYF telling us how they allowed such an obvious family time bomb to explode,”.

After the verdict, CYF social work and community services general manager Verna Smith said the department started a case review in April of “the quality of its social work practice” dealing with the girls’ family. That review was suspended at the request of the crown solicitor pending court proceedings, then restarted and was expected to be completed early next year.

A Child, Youth and Family report described that it examined whether departmental policies and procedures had been followed, whether practice had been of a good standard, and whether gaps in practice could be addressed. It stated that the review was not an enquiry into cause of death or responsibility for death, which it said was for prosecuting authorities to determine.

The report engagement was said to have involved John Morrison, an independent barrister, assisted by Tuakeu Pilato, a Child, Youth and Family manager, and that the review was carried out between 17 December 2002 and 18 March 2003.

The report included multiple sections describing the department’s involvement in three phases beginning in 1989.

Between 1989 and 1993, the department was involved regarding the sexual safety of the children, with reviewers concluding an appropriate investigation was undertaken and conclusions reached in consultation with professionals including police, health professionals and panel members.

From 1994 to 1999, domestic disputes were described as frequent and explosive, social workers found children inadequately cared for and the subject of physical abuse by Bruce Howse, and Olympia, Saliel and their siblings were placed with maternal grandparents. A family group conference found the children were in need of care and protection and Child, Youth and Family applied to the Court for Custody and Guardianship Orders. Four children were returned to their mother’s care and that of Bruce Howse in November 1999. The report said over a 5-year period the department received extensive intra-family cross-accusations and worked with other agencies and persons, and extensive counselling and other services were provided. The report said the agreed conclusion was that the children should return to their mother’s care.

The report said both Charlene Aplin and Bruce Howse agreed to participate in parenting and anger management programmes and the return was endorsed by significant others and agreed to by the Family Court.

From April 2000 to 4 December 2001, the report said police were called out to the Aplin/Howse home in April 2000 after a domestic violence incident, social workers visited within required timeframes and found no one there, made attempts to locate the family, then found the family in June 2000 when they were living in Woodville, and moved back to Masterton in August 2000. The report stated that in August 2000 all of the children were seen by a social worker who was satisfied they were safe at that time and the case was closed in September 2000.

On 3 August 2001, the report described a notification from the Deputy Principal of Olympia’s school alleging suspected sexual abuse of Olympia by Bruce Howse and referencing another sibling. A social worker responded immediately, contacted the school the same day, visited the maternal grandparents’ home, and arranged for Olympia to stay there. The report said that after the weekend Olympia was overheard telling a sibling that the allegations were false, Olympia confirmed this in the presence of her grandmother, and the social worker concluded the retraction was genuine and that the sibling had not been abused. As a result, the social worker did not proceed with an intended evidential interview, did not refer the matter to the Serious Abuse Team supervisor, and, after consultation with her supervisor, reached a conclusion that the case should be closed subject to referral to the Care and Protection Resource Panel for endorsement.

The report said later that the school principal contacted the social worker asking her to talk to Olympia about telling lies, and on 3 September 2001 notes in Olympia’s school book were forwarded to the social worker, including references to rape by Bruce Howse, “felt” by two other men, and being given a hiding by another man. The report said it appeared these references were a repeat of earlier information and the “being felt” and “given a hiding” references were taken as “new information” but not necessarily giving rise to a new or immediate concern for Olympia’s welfare. The report said the social worker and supervisor did not record it as a notification on 5 November 2001 when the case was closed on the electronic record system.

The report said on 16 November 2001 the social worker wrote to the mother asking her to make contact, referring to new information to discuss, and that when Charlene Aplin acted on the letter and made contact on 3 December 2001 there was a telephone conversation about the further information. The report stated Olympia and Saliel died that night and that Bruce Howse was later convicted of their murder.

The report included practice commentary listing eight practice issues, including immediate safety of the child, need for separate notifications for siblings, and new information not recorded or entered as a notification. It stated unsafe practice and unnecessary to send a letter to the home referring to new information and discussed risk associated with a violent accused.

At the start of the report’s comments, it stated: “That the children would be returned to their mother's care was almost inevitable.” It also included the statement: “That the children would be returned to their mother's care was almost inevitable.'” and described the legislative context as the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989.

The report was signed by Shannon Pakura Chief Social Worker and dated 2 April 2003.

Other details

The record included Bruce Howse’s age as 40 at the time of sentencing.

It also described that Bruce Howse showed no emotion at the sentence.

The material referred to Bruce Howse’s brother, Peter Robert Howse, as being convicted and serving preventive detention in Auckland’s maximum security prison, Paremoremo, for a series of sex attacks, and that Peter Howse had been convicted in 1982 of murdering his de facto partner. The material also described Peter Howse as a convicted murderer and said he was serving a preventive detention sentence for a series of rapes and sex attacks.

The kidnapping in 1991 was described as involving Howse and his brother Peter, snatching a 17-year-old with the intention of raping her until she got away. The material stated Bruce Howse co-operated with police and received a non-custodial sentence.

In relation to the school principal comments, Peter Debney said “I will be going around classes and just making sure they're all aware that the verdict has been reached and that we actually move on.” The material also included National MP Katherine Rich’s statements quoted above and Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Oxnam’s statements quoted above.

When Gillian Holdem described Bruce Howse as a manipulator, she said: “He's a manipulator,” and “He's such a convincing liar. People have believed him, that's the problem.”

She also said: “I started church when we split up and the minister sided with him. Our minister did a letter that got him out of prison for that kidnapping.”

She said a Family Court judge decided to try what he called “an experiment” with the girl, and that the judge granted custody to Howse against her objections.

She quoted: “I rang CYFS, I rang the kids' lawyer; the courts were closed and they all told me not to let her go back.”

She also quoted: “I spoke to a senior sergeant. I told him, 'Don't let him get away with it'.”