NZ's most brutal killer? The story of RSA triple murderer William Bell

In December 2001, William Bell stormed into the Mt Wellington-Panmure Returned Services Association premises and brutally attacked four innocent people.

Club president Bill Absolum, club member Wayne Johnson and cleaner Mary Hobson died.

Susan Couch survived - just.

Bell left the mother-of-one for dead with broken arms and severe head injuries that caused a stroke.

She lost about 80 per cent of her blood and ambulance officers later said she came as close to dying as she could get.

Bell was on parole at the time of the murders and already had 102 convictions.

He was convicted of attempted murder, aggravated robbery and three counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 30 years. He is not eligible for parole December 2031.

His getaway driver was a Darnell Tupe. He was convicted of manslaughter and aggravated robbery and sntenced to 12 years' with a seven-year minimum non-parole period. He is currently at large in the community after being released on parole. 

In this month’s episode of Herald podcast A Moment In Crime senior journalist Anna Leask revisists the triple murder - explaining what led to Bell’s violent and callous offending and how the tragedy would never have happened if authorities had not missed a crucial opportunity to recall him to prison. chance to recall him to prison

Leask also tells the stories of the victims and surivor - why they were at the RSA that awful day and what they meant to their family and friends.

A Moment in Crime is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released monthly.

The series is written and hosted by senior crime and justice reporter Anna Leask. Leask has been with NZME since 2005 and has worked as a specialist journalist focussing on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime.

If you have a crime or case you would like to hear more about, email [e-mail].

Since 2019, A Moment in Crime has produced almost 70 episodes, and has been downloaded over 2 million times, with listeners in over 180 countries. Past cases covered include the Bain Family murders, Lauren Dickason, James Wallace, the Heavenly Creatures case, and Grace Millane.

It was nominated for Best True Crime Podcast at the 2024 Radio and Podcast Awards.

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