Gary Lawrence McKinley

Overview

Gary Lawrence McKinley was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 1987 after the rape and murder of Wendy Snowdon.

The offence

Wendy Snowdon, aged 23, was attacked and raped as she jogged through a New Plymouth park. She was running through Brooklands Park, which back onto Pukekura Park in New Plymouth. The attack took place around 10am on Friday, November 21, 1986.

Police believed that McKinley, who was hiding in bushes where several tracks converged, attacked Wendy by surprise. Police said Wendy was knocked unconscious with a rock wielded by McKinley. McKinley carried Wendy’s body to a more remote location on the track and raped her. He then tried to strangle her and left her lying on the track thinking she was dead.

After an approximate twenty minutes, a person walking a dog heard noises coming from further along the track and found Wendy. Wendy was rushed to Taranaki Base Hospital and placed in intensive care. She never regained consciousness and died of her injuries after 16 days.

Investigation

Police interviewed over 120 people who had been in the surrounding Brooklands Park area on the day Wendy was attacked.

Arrest

An Okato man was arrested and charged with Wendy’s murder. His name was Gary Lawrence McKinley, a 26-year-old unemployed machine operator. He had a record of past convictions including burglary, theft and aggravated assault.

When interviewed, McKinley said that he had been taken over by another personality. Psychiatric evaluation of him at Lake Alice Hospital found no evidence to support his claim.

Trial

McKinley was sentenced in the Hamilton High Court. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and six years jail for the rape charge. The sentencing occurred in June 1987.

Sentencing

McKinley was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and six years jail for the rape charge in the Hamilton High Court on June 1987.

Other offences and later court appearance

Gary Lawrence McKinley later attacked a cellmate at Rimutaka Prison.

A Rimutaka Prison inmate, Gary Lawrence McKinley, stabbed fellow cellmate Peter Biddle after Biddle scared a stray cat he had befriended. The stabbing occurred on Boxing Day last year. McKinley stabbed Biddle twice in the neck and once in the chest with a 12cm kitchen knife as Biddle was watching Coronation Street.

McKinley pleaded guilty in Upper Hutt District Court in June to grievous bodily harm. At his sentencing in the Wellington District Court, Crown prosecutor Michael Snape requested that McKinley’s sentencing be transferred to the High Court so a sentence of preventive detention could be considered. McKinley’s lawyer Paul Paino opposed the request in written submissions.

Judge Jan Kelly ruled that the attack could warrant a sentence of preventive detention. The judge remanded McKinley in custody until the case was heard in the High Court at Wellington on October 7.

The incident was triggered after Biddle entered the living room shared with McKinley in the prison’s minimum-security unit and startled the cat, causing it to scamper away.

McKinley later told a prison manager: “I would do anything to protect the cat, it's all I've got”.

McKinley and Biddle were prisoners in the self-care unit used to prepare long-term inmates for release. McKinley was nearing the end of his prison term after serving more than 20 years of a murder life sentence when he attacked Biddle.

McKinley was originally jailed in 1987 for the rape and murder of 23-year-old New Plymouth jogger Wendy Snowdon.

Other details

Wendy’s parents held no malice for the man that took their daughter’s life and looked to their Christian faith to help heal their wounds.