28-year-old Lee Hori Bishell was found guilty Thursday in Wellington's High Court for the murder of 72-year-old Johnny Walker, who was bludgeoned to death in his home on 8 December last year. The Crown said that it was a burglary gone wrong, in which Bishell broke in to steal Mr Walker's video recorder, hoping to sell it to pay for P. Mr Walker's daughter Winnie said says the killing was a gutless and senseless thing to do to an old man who could not defend himself. Her partner of three years said he had come to look upon Mr Walker as a father, and had attempted suicide following his murder. Winnie Walker painted a picture of a well-liked but eccentric man who wore a tea cosy and a three-piece suit to mow his lawn. During the case, Mr Walker's gay sauna visits were scrutinised, along with an attempt by Bishell's defence to connect Mr Walker's murder to his 1997 sex offence against a teenage boy, for which he was jailed. Bishell will be sentenced on 21 November.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 8th November 2003 - 12:00pm