Jordan Nelson

Background

Jordan Nelson was a 13-year-old. He was New Zealand's youngest convicted murderer.

Rose Kurth was a 50-year-old caregiver and Jordan Nelson’s de facto grandfather’s partner. Kurth was shot and killed at a rural home at Okoki near Urenui.

Jordan Nelson’s family and others described the circumstances as involving domestic violence exposure and youth oversight arrangements. Child, Youth and Family (CYF) had a care and protection order and did not allow Nelson to visit his mother in Hawke's Bay.

The offence

Jordan Nelson shot and killed Rose Kurth at their rural home at Okoki, near Urenui.

Jordan Nelson pleaded guilty to using a .22-calibre rifle to shoot 50-year-old Rose Kurth at their rural home at Okoki on the afternoon of April 15. He admitted shooting Kurth in the back of the head with the rifle at close range while she sat at the kitchen table completing a jigsaw puzzle.

After the shooting, Jordan Nelson dragged Kurth’s body into a bedroom and ransacked Kerry Lock’s room. The court heard he then drove to Waitara in Kurth’s car.

The court heard that Nelson had no relationship with his father because his mother had a restraining order against him. Kurth’s family later called for the Crown to appeal against the sentence.

Investigation

Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward led the inquiry into Kurth's death. Coward called it a “very sad” case and said that, in terms of Nelson being 13, it was not unbelievable. Coward said investigators built a case around investigations into the victim's activities and the offender’s activities.

Coward said the killing was “bizarre” and that “Every homicide, you look at the offender and you think, if you had to pick someone that had done this, it wouldn't be that person. It's random.”

Coward said the facts were simple: Nelson did not “particularly care for her” and shot her in the back of the head. Coward said there was no need for “exotic theories” around motive.

Police said a firearm was recovered from the scene.

Police later found Nelson parked in the nearby town of Waitara in a vehicle, where he claimed he could not remember the incident.

Arrest

Jordan Nelson was stopped by police in a vehicle near Waitara a short time after the shooting.

At 3:45pm on April 15, police arrested Jordan Nelson in Waitara. At the time of his arrest, he was 13 years and three months old.

Trial

Jordan Nelson initially pleaded not guilty. He appeared before Justice Timothy Brewer in the High Court at New Plymouth charged with Kurth's murder.

Justice Brewer lifted name suppression for Nelson and Ms Kurth, which had been in place since the shooting.

Crown solicitor Cherie Clarke said Nelson thought of Kerry Lock, who was in a relationship with Ms Kurth, as his grandfather and the three had lived at the address since September 2010. Clarke said Nelson’s father lived in Stratford and Nelson’s mother lived in Napier.

On the morning of April 15, Nelson got the gun out of the closet and the ammunition from the drawers and placed them in the sleepout while Mr Lock was out walking the dogs. Miss Clarke said when Mr Lock again left the house about 3pm, Nelson took the gun from the sleepout and shot Ms Kurth once in the back of the head while she worked on a jigsaw puzzle at the dining room table. Nelson then dragged Ms Kurth into her bedroom. Clarke said that after ransacking Mr Lock’s room and taking $16.10 in coins and a tusk carved necklace, Nelson drove off towards Urenui in Ms Kurth’s white Ford Telstar.

Clarke said Nelson told police that his relationship with Mr Lock was good and he had done a lot for him, but that “sometimes not that good” was his relationship with Ms Kurth. Clarke quoted Nelson as saying: “If I do something wrong she gets shitty with me.”

Nelson initially claimed to police he could recall nothing and said his memory was blank from the time Lock left the house until the arrest in Waitara. Clarke said Nelson “maintained he was going to the police in Waitara because he felt like he had done something wrong but didn't know what it was.”

Nelson later admitted to police Ms Kurth had died because he had shot her.

Jordan Nelson pleaded guilty to murder in the High Court in New Plymouth on November 15, a few days before the trial was due to start.

Justice Brewer convicted Nelson and recorded a first strike warning.

Justice Brewer remanded Nelson in custody until December 20 for sentencing and ordered that a pre-sentence report and victim impact statements be prepared.

Justice Brewer said:

"What is going to happen to you is going to be determined at your sentencing"

Justice Paul Heath later sentenced Nelson in the High Court at New Plymouth.

Sentencing

Jordan Nelson was sentenced to 18 years' jail after Justice Heath decided that Nelson was too young to be given the mandatory life sentence. The sentence was imposed on December 20, 2012.

Justice Heath decided that Nelson’s psychiatric assessment showed he had no mental health problems but had been exposed to domestic violence, and that it made clear this was not while with Mr Lock and Ms Kurth.

The court heard that Nelson was 13 years and 89 days old when he murdered Rose Kurth. Justice Heath did not set a minimum term that Nelson must spend in jail, meaning he could seek parole after serving a third of his sentence, or six years. The finite 18-year sentence allowed Nelson to apply for parole in six years, when he would be 19.

Jordan Nelson was to be sent to a secure youth residence until his 16th birthday and then was likely to be transferred to an adult facility.

Court reporting also described how Justice Heath said:

“Adolescents [are] more inclined to react with instinct and aggression,”
and “None of us will ever know exactly what was going through Jordan's mind when he shot Mrs Kurth.”

Appeals

Kurth's family called for the Crown to appeal against the sentence.

Statements from the family included:

"We felt the focus of today's decision hinged largely on the defendant's young age and worry that it could be setting a dangerous precedent for future cases,"

and:

"We feel that unfortunately justice wasn't done and that Rose's death was for nothing."

Outcome

Jordan Nelson pleaded guilty to murder and was convicted.

He was sentenced to 18 years in prison on December 20, 2012.

Aftermath

Kerry Lock, Kurth’s partner, read a victim impact statement to the High Court in New Plymouth. Lock said he returned from shifting the stock near their Piko Rd home to find two bloody drag marks leading into the spare room.

Lock told the court he opened the door to find Kurth lying on the floor with blood coming out of the back of her head, her mouth and ears. Lock said:

"I suffer from vivid flashbacks that randomly affect my ability to maintain day-to-day tasks."

Lock said:

"I miss Rose like crazy and all I can do is kiss the photo beside the bed every day."

Lock also spoke about losing two people in his life, his grandson and his partner.

Lock said:

“I miss her like crazy and all I can do kiss the photo beside the bed,”

Lock said he had ongoing effects from the death and that Sundays were the worst, describing how he would walk for hours.

Jimmy Kurth said:

"What Jordan has done has torn my family apart,"

and Kurth's family said their children would now never have a relationship with their grandmother. Another family statement included concern about recurring nightmares and fear of being alone.

Jimmy Kurth said:

"I don't understand how Jordan could be so selfish and nasty, all because he was grounded and it was for a serious matter. "I hate what you have done, you stole from me. Nothing can fix the pain you have caused," Kurth said.

Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward said there were no winners in the case but that, with Nelson pleading guilty, the family had been spared a trial.

Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward said that the police said Nelson's guilty plea before the trial began at least saved Kurth's family further suffering.

Other details

Kurth’s family described that Kurth worked as a caregiver and had three adult daughters from a previous marriage. One of Kurth’s daughters lived in Australia and was due to return home.

Police said Kurth was well known and liked in the local community and worked as a caregiver.

A policeman investigating the alleged murder called it:

"very sad case all round"

Neighbour Stacey Ball described Jordan Nelson as polite and said:

“I never saw it coming. He's always polite and out helping... with the firewood and out on the farm.”

Deanne Ball said she was not coping and was in shock hours later. Deanne Ball said:

"I haven't seen anything like that before in my life. It was horrible. "

Stacey Ball said she had taken a first-aid course and that:

"It certainly changed your Sunday afternoon - we were just doing the gardening and this happened ... I'm still in a state of shock."

The court heard that Nelson’s nearest motive was that Kurth prevented him from visiting his mother, and it was under the direction of Child, Youth and Family.

The Crown had earlier alleged another motive was that Kurth had taken away Nelson’s access to Freeview television.

The court heard Nelson had been suspended from Waitara High School for smoking marijuana. Reporting also said Nelson bunked off school with two friends and returned to class stoned, resulting in a simple suspension. Nelson was later sent home with schoolwork to fill his weekdays.

Waitara's principal Jenny Gellen described Nelson’s suspension and said Jordan was too young to control himself and his decision making.

The court heard that Nelson showed little emotion during the hearing and when led away to start his sentence.

Jordan Nelson had a reading age two years above his own and did not suffer from any serious psychological problems, according to reporting of Justice Heath’s comments and the information heard in court.

Earlier in the case, the High Court named Justice Brewer. Jordan was remanded in custody until December 20 for sentencing. A pre-sentence report and victim impact statements were ordered.

Police release included details that Kurth had a partner and three adult daughters from a previous marriage, and that the boy arrested was known to Kurth but not blood related and had been in her care in recent times. Police continued forensic examination at the house and on a white four-door 1993 Ford Telstar driven from the property after the shooting and stopped in Waitara.

Police appealed for people who saw the white 1993 Ford Telstar car between Urenui and Waikato between 3:30pm and 5pm to come forward.