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Gail Money was convicted in 1999 for the 1989 murder of Dean Fuller-Sandys, but prosecutors now admit there was a miscarriage of justice in the case due to the testimony of witnesses at the trial.
photo: Fairfax Media
Prosecutors acknowledged that there was a miscarriage of justice in the murder trials of Gail Money and Stephen Stone.
The case was investigated in the popular RNZ/Stuff podcast Go fishingwill be heard in the Wellington Court of Appeal next month.
But shockingly, lawyers for Money and Stone received a memo from prosecutors last week acknowledging that there were serious problems with the evidence heard in the two trials in 1999 and 2000, which led to a miscarriage of justice.
Money’s lawyer, Julie-Anne Kincade KC, said the concession still had to be recognized by the Court of Appeal but was a huge breakthrough and could lead to a swift acquittal.
“We want the court to determine whether or not to make a not guilty verdict. We have many reasons why we think there should not be a retrial.”
In 1999, Money and Stone were jointly convicted of the murder of West Auckland tyre fitter Deane Fuller-Sandys, who disappeared in 1989 and was initially thought to have drowned while fishing on Auckland’s wild west coast.
Prosecutors allege Money believed Fuller-Sandis had stolen her property and asked Stone to kill him. Stone was also convicted in 1999 of the rape and murder of Leah Stephens, who allegedly witnessed Fuller-Sandis’s killing. Two other men, Mark Henriksen and Gail’s brother Colin Money, were convicted of lesser charges in connection with Fuller-Sandis’s murder.
Since the day of her arrest, Money has maintained her innocence and insisted that she had never met Fuller-Sandys, let alone arranged to kill him.
The initial appeal resulted in a retrial, but Money was found guilty again in 2000. Money failed in another appeal attempt in 2005.
Her story gained national attention on the hit podcast, Go fishingCreated in 2018 by RNZ and Stuff.
Gail Money said she cried when she heard the news
photo: Jason Doherty/Stuff.
‘I couldn’t believe what I was hearing’
On Wednesday, Money told ABC News how excited she was to hear the news. She said investigator Tim McKinnell invited her to Auckland so he and her legal team could tell her the news in person.
“We sat down, and then I think it was Julianne who said, ‘Who’s going to tell her?’
“My heart was pounding. I was thinking it could be a good thing or a bad thing. Then Julie Anne or Tim told me the prosecution admitted there had been a miscarriage of justice.
“I couldn’t believe what I heard, I started crying.”
* Listen to the Gone Fishing podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Soon after release Go fishing At the podcast launch, investigator Tim McKinnel took over Gail Maney’s case, saying there were many “red flags” in the case.
The Gone Fishing podcast reveals major problems with the police case that saw Gail Money and Stephen Stone convicted for the murder of Dean Fuller-Sandys.
photo:
McKinnell, who has worked with attorneys for Money and Stone for the past six years to build the case for a new appeal, said the new concessions from prosecutors were big news.
“This is by no means the end, but it is a very positive and encouraging step after such a long struggle,” he said.
“We have enough confidence in our collective work that we know this day will come, but you can never be sure in criminal justice.”
Royal Charter Details
Kincaid said prosecutors’ admission of miscarriage was “based on very narrow grounds.”
Prosecutors agreed that there were two documents that should have been disclosed to defense attorneys in 1999 and 2000 and that if they had done so, the outcome of the trial might have been different.
“The next question is what happens next? Assuming the court agrees that this was a miscarriage, the basis on which they found it was a miscarriage is important. We would argue that it wasn’t just about lack of disclosure. There was something else going on.”
Kincaid said she and her team are acutely aware that while this is great news for Marnie, the latest developments in the “Anglers” series could be devastating to the families of Dean Fuller-Sandys and Leah Stephens.
For nine years, Fuller-Sandis’ family believed their son was the victim of an unfortunate accident, “and then the police showed up nine years later and said, oh no, we determined he was shot in a garage in west Oakland.” Then, with every twist in the story, they had to confront it all over again.
Amy Maas, a former RNZ and Stuff journalist now living in the US, said she was “shocked but not surprised” that Money had reached this new milestone in his fight to prove his innocence.
“This matter still needs to be formally heard in the courts, but Gail deserves to be able to live a normal life again – she has lost so much. Her children have lost so much. This has had a domino effect on the whole family, affecting generations, and she deserves to be free.”
Stephen Stone’s legal team, led by Annabel Maxwell-Scott, would not comment while the case was pending but said they were “looking forward to next month’s hearing which we hope will bring this case to a close”.
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