Renee Kara O'Brien

Background

Renee Kara O'Brien was 14 years and nine months old when she beat Kenneth Pigott, 60, to death in Waitara in 2002. She was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.

O'Brien's co-offenders were Puti Irene Health Maxwell and Kararina Makere Te Tauna, both 14, who were convicted of manslaughter.

The offence

Kenneth Pigott was killed by a 14-year-old for his car. Renee Kara O’Brien set out on the evening of March 10, 2002 with the sole intention of stealing a car.

Finding 60-year-old grandfather Kenneth Pigott asleep in his four-wheel drive, O'Brien struck him in the head eight times with a hammer and threw his dead body into the Waitara River.

After leaving her friend’s aunt’s house, Renee Kara O’Brien went looking for a car to steal. Returning to her home at 3am, Renee told her father that she was going out again. She hooked up with friends, Kararaina Makere Te Rauna and Puti Irene Heather Maxwell, and they set off to find a car and drink some alcohol.

Kenneth Pigott had also been drinking with friends at a local Waitara pub on the evening of March 10. Falling asleep in his four-wheel-drive, he was woken by Renee O’Brien and her friends. While Kararaina distracted Mr Pigott, Renee produced a hammer. She smashed the man over the head eight times before he fell to the ground. The other two girls kicked him before they all dragged him over the stop bank and into the river.

After dumping the body, they stole Kenneth Pigott’s car and took it joy riding around the streets of Waitara, visiting friends and even tooting as they drove past the police station.

After dropping Puti Maxwell at home, the other two girls headed toward Palmerston North, finally abandoning the vehicle several hours away from Waitara north of Wanganui.

Kenneth Pigott’s body was found the following afternoon on 11 March 2002 in the Waitara River. He had suffered severe head injuries.

Investigation

O'Brien appeared in a video interview with Detective Constable Stella Howard in which she told lie after lie.

Arrest

All three girls were arrested and later appeared in court:

• Kararaina Makere Te Rauna
• Puti Irene Heather Maxwell
• Renee Kara O'Brien

Trial

Renee Kara O'Brien was charged with murder. She was found guilty only three hours after the jury left the court. During the trial, she hung her head and hid her face throughout the proceeding. She was remanded in custody.

Her name had been suppressed until the verdict.

Puti Irene Heather Maxwell changed her plea to manslaughter on 11/09/02. Kararaina Makere Te Rauna, who had been sentenced to 8 years and 9 months’ jail, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on 26 August.

The closing address by the crown prosecutor Tim Brewer included the following statements:

“You must have regard to Renee's age, but don't be misled by it,” Mr Brewer told the jury.
The jurors should have no doubt that she hammered Mr Pigott into unconsciousness, and it did not matter whether he died from his head injuries or drowned - either way she killed him.
The difference between murder and manslaughter was intent, said Mr Brewer.
“If, when Renee hammered Mr Pigott, she knew that what she was doing might very well kill him, but went ahead and took that risk anyway, then that is murder.”

In the closing speech, the defence counsel Patrick Mooney told the jury:

“Did she intend to kill? I suggest to you the evidence comes nowhere near that.”
“You have to decide what was going through [her] mind, but in doing that you have to decide what was going through [her] drunken mind.”

The jury took just under three hours to reach its verdict, returning once to ask a legal question.

Justice John Priestley remanded Renee Kara O'Brien in custody for sentencing on October 7.

During the trial, in a closing address by O'Brien’s lawyer, she hid her face behind her hands. In the closing address, the prosecutor told the jury she was guilty if when she hit Pigott she did not care whether he died or not. The defence told the jury that O'Brien never meant to kill Pigott and the idea was to knock him out, not to kill him.

The judge asked the jury not to take into account that Puti Maxwell and Kararaina Te Rauna had earlier pleaded guilty to Pigott's manslaughter.

Renee O'Brien sat through Mr Brewer’s speech with her face hidden behind her hands. She also hid her face during her own lawyer’s closing address.

A 13-year-old witness testified in the case, and Tim Brewer said that O'Brien “had shed a few tears” according to that witness, but they were soon gone.

In evidence discussed at trial, O'Brien had already admitted hitting Pigott a few times with the intention of taking his motor vehicle.

Sentencing

Renee Kara O'Brien was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2003, with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.

The co-offenders’ sentences were:

• Kararaina Makere Te Rauna: sentenced to 8 years and 9 months jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
• Puti Irene Heather Maxwell: pled guilty to manslaughter on 11/09/02 and was to be sentenced following that plea.

Appeals

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand considered proceedings in The Queen v.

Outcome

Renee Kara O'Brien was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years. She was found guilty after the jury deliberated for just under three hours.

Aftermath

Kenneth Pigott’s eldest son Dean said:

“There's no one free to walk around that got away with it,” he said.

He also said while the verdict did not bring back their father, “at least justice has been seen to be done.”