The Parker Hume Murder Case

On June 22, 1954, Honora Parker’s body was found in Victoria Park, in Christchurch, New Zealand. ^[1] That morning, Honora went for a walk in the park with her daughter, Pauline Parker, and her best friend, Juliette Hume. At about 130 m (420 ft) down the path, in a wooded area of ​​a park near a small wooden bridge, Julia and Pauline beat Honor to death with half a brick, which they stuck in an old stocking. ^[1] After the murder, which they had planned together, the two girls ran, smeared in blood , back to the tea stand, where they had eaten just a few minutes ago. They were met by Agnes and Kenneth Richie, the owners of the kiosk, to whom they reported that Honor had fallen and hit her head. The body was discovered by Kenneth Richie. There were serious wounds on Honor’s head, face and neck, in addition to minor injuries on his fingers. Police soon discovered the murder weapon in a nearby forest. Girls' version of Parker's accidental death was quickly refuted.

Prior to the trial, it was discovered that Honora Parker was never legally married to Herbert Reaper ^[2] , who was still legally married to another. Although everyone knew Pauline before that under the last name Riper (and she also studied at school under her), nevertheless during the trial, she and her mother appeared in court records under the maiden name Honora.

Pauline Parker's parents were working class representatives, while Juliet was the daughter of Henry Hulme, a physicist and rector of the University of Canterbury in Christchurch.

As a child, Parker suffered osteomyelitis , and Hume suffered from tuberculosis and was sent by her parents to the Bahamas to recuperate. In Christchurch, the girls met and became friends; they had complex fantasies, they lived next door, and often sought to leave and spend the night playing scenes from stories involving characters invented by them. This worried their parents, who were afraid that the relationship between girls might be sexual . Homosexuality at that time was considered a serious mental illness, so the parents of both tried to ban girls from dating.

In 1954, Juliet's parents divorced, her father resigned from his post as rector of Canterbury College and planned to return to England . Then it was decided that Juliet would be sent to live with her relatives in South Africa - not only for her health, but also so that the girls would be parted for a long time, if not forever. Pauline told her mother that she wanted to go with Juliet, but her mother made Pauline clear that she would not allow it. Then the girls thought up a plan to kill Pauline’s mother and a plan to go to Hollywood , where they thought they could post their records and work in the cinema.

The court was a sensational case, were considered assumptions about their lesbianism and insanity. The girls were convicted on August 28, 1954, and each of them spent five years in prison, as they were too young to be sentenced to death . Some sources report that they were released with the condition of never trying to contact each other again ^[3] , but Justice Minister Sam Barnett refuted this information ^[4] .

In less than four months, the Special Committee on Moral Offenses among Children and Adolescents, in its report, known as the “Masengarb Report” (in honor of its chairman, Ossi Masengarba), declared that the murder was evidence of moral decline.

After her release from prison, Juliet Hume spent some time in the United States, and later began a successful career as a historical novelist of the detective genre under the new name of Ann Perry . She became Mormon around 1968. ^[5] In March 2006, Perry claimed that, although their relationship with Pauline Parker was intrusive, they were not lesbians ^[6] .

Pauline Parker spent some time in New Zealand under close surveillance, before she was allowed to leave for England . As of 1997, she lived in the small village of Hu near Strouda, Kent, and worked in a children's riding school. As an adult, she adopted the Roman Catholic faith . She repented of killing her mother and for many years refused to give an interview about the crime ^[7] .

The murder story was adapted in 1971 in the French film Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal (“ Do not save us from the evil one ”) and in Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures (1994). Perry's identity was revealed publicly during the film's release.

• Perry, ann
• Parker, Pauline

• Information on the Parker-Hulme case from Christchurch, New Zealand
• Lesbian perspective on the Parker-Hulme case - audio and transcript from PrideNZ.com
• Daily Record article from September 2012