NZ First MP Ron Mark has received several letters from constituents saying murdered interior designer David McNee was a "creepy little faggot" who deserved what he got. Mark is currently pushing for an investigation into why Phillip Edwards was not prosecuted for an aggravated burglary charge which, if pursued, would have seen him in jail at the time the McNee killing took place. Letters received at Mark's office from the public seem to indicate they believe he is wasting his time, but he believes that with Edwards' history of close to fifty convictions, each escalating in violence, that it was only a matter of time before he killed, and his victim could easily have been a grandmother who happened to interrupt a burglary at her home. At Question Time in Parliament yesterday, Mark questioned why the prosecution in the McNee trial did not raise the aggravated burglary incident, "when it so clearly could have rebutted the defence case by establishing a modus operandi and clinched a murder conviction?" Police Minister George Hawkins would not comment on the case as it is “still before the court”. The trial is actually completed, with Edwards merely awaiting sentence.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 26th August 2004 - 12:00pm