Anger over manslaughter verdicts 

Source: ONE NewsJanet Moses

Five family members will be sentenced in August for the manslaughter of Janet Moses in a curse lifting ceremony.

Moses was killed during a makutu in Wainuiomata in 2007 after having water forced into her mouth and eyes. Her four aunts and an uncle were found guilty of her manslaughter while three family members were found not guilty.

The verdicts were met with howls of anger and wails of sorrow from the packed public gallery at the High Court at Wellington.

The verdicts are the final chapter in a saga that began in October 2007 when police were called to a Wainuiomata house. There they found the body of young mother Janet Moses, and the house soaked with water.

Eight family members were accused of playing a part in the 22-year-old's death, who drowned during an exorcism ceremony.

The people found guilty were: John Tahana Rawiri, 49; Tanginoa Apanui, 42; Angela Orupe, 36; Aroha Gwendoline Wharepapa, 48; and Glenys Lynette Wright, 52.

Not guilty were Hall Jones Wharepapa, 46; Gaylene Tangiohororere Kepa, 44; and Alfred Hughes Kepa, 48.

A ninth defendant, Georgina Rawiri, was discharged on Wednesday after Justice Simon France said there was not enough evidence to charge her.

A man and woman with permanent name suppression who denied wilful cruelty towards a 14-year-old girl during the makutu have been found not guilty.

The five people found guilty were remanded on bail for sentencing on August 14.

"The focus of the investigation thus far has always been on the family. They are still central to our investigation and will continue to be so," said Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Levy, New Zealand Police.

As the verdicts were read out in court, family and supporters openly wept. Amid chaos outside the courtroom, people were shouting and wailing, and there was hostility towards media and lawyers.

The jury returned its verdicts just after 10pm, after about 17 hours of deliberation.

It returned to the courtroom briefly on Friday morning to ask for clarification on the charges faced by the pair accused of ill-treatment of the child.

Those family members charged with manslaughter fought for months to conceal their identity but they eventually lost that battle after submissions by ONE News and other media.

At trial the jury was told the accused believed Moses had become cursed after the theft of this lion statue from a Wairarapa pub.

They poured water down her throat to make her vomit up the demon, instead enough went into her lungs to drown her.

The Crown says the family missed signs of a mental illness and instead fatally tried to treat Moses on their own.

"Janet was held down on the floor while her eyelids were forced open, water poured on her face and in her eyes in an attempt to rid her of makutu," said the Crown prosecutor.
 
But the Defence says the accused acted out of love and truly believed they were saving the woman from inner demons.

The Defence says that the accused, and even Moses herself, believed she was possessed by a curse.

"It must be a reasonable possiblity at very least that she actually consented to what was happening. It must be," said Greg King, defence lawyer.