R v Holl
[2014] NZHC 1655
•18 July 2014
IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND BLENHEIM REGISTRY
CRI-2013-006-000037 [2014] NZHC 1655
THE QUEEN
v
JANELLE AMANDA HOLL
Counsel: M A O'Donoghue for Crown
J H M Eaton QC for Prisoner
Sentence:
18 July 2014
NOTES ON SENTENCE OF COLLINS J
Introduction
[1] Mrs Holl, on 2 May 2014 you pleaded guilty to murdering Robyn Grace, who was the mother of your husband, David Holl. Ms Grace is described as being a short and slightly built woman.1 On 7 November 2013, I sentenced David Holl to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 15 years for his role in the murder of Ms Grace. The sentence imposed on David Holl included a period of
18 months’ imprisonment for other offending. The starting point I adopted when
sentencing David Holl for murder was 17 years’ imprisonment.
[2] Mr Eaton QC accepts you must be sentenced to life imprisonment. The only issue is how long you should serve in prison before being considered eligible for parole. Mr Eaton suggests 10 years. The Crown suggests somewhere between 13 to
13½ years.
1 Ms Grace was 5 foot 3 inches tall and weighed 53 kilograms.
R v HOLL [2014] NZHC 1655 [18 July 2014]
[3] In sentencing you, I shall:
(1) explain your offending;
(2)explain the requirements for a 17 year minimum period of imprisonment for murder;
(3) explain the starting point I am going to use when sentencing you;
(4)explain the adjustment that I am going to make to that starting point to reflect:
(a) your guilty plea;
(b) your mental status;
(c) your previous good character; and
(d) your remorse.
Your offending
[4] On 5 January 2013, you and David Holl moved to Picton to live with Ms Grace. It was intended this would be a temporary arrangement while you and David Holl found a place of your own in which to live.
[5] Tensions began to develop between Ms Grace, David Holl and yourself. Those matters became so strained that on 13 January 2013 Ms Grace told you and David Holl to move out of her home and that she was looking for an alternative place for you and David Holl to stay. Ms Grace then left her home for approximately one hour.
[6] After Ms Grace left her home David Holl told you about how he planned to kill Ms Grace when she returned home. When you spoke to the police on 13 January
2013 you were asked:2
What did [David Holl] ask of you?
You replied “Um kind of asked me to help him but I wanted to help him …”.
David Holl told you the plan included dismembering Ms Grace’s body and burning her body parts in the fireplace of the house.3 To fulfil this plan David Holl located an axe and placed items in a plastic bag. Those items were a skipping rope, a nylon cord, masking tape, a pillow case and a lighter.
[7] At approximately 4.00 pm Ms Grace returned home. When she entered the front door David Holl grabbed her by placing his arm around her back and his hand over her mouth. Ms Grace fought back. David Holl dragged Ms Grace into the lounge. Ms Grace broke free and was captured again by David Holl and you at the front door whereupon both of you dragged her into the lounge. Ms Grace was screaming at this time. You then hit Ms Grace in the forehead with the blunt end of the axe. At your interview you demonstrated how you struck Ms Grace with the axe
on the forehead using significant force.4 Your demonstration of how you struck the
first blow with the axe was frank, unemotive and disturbing.
[8] David Holl then took the axe and struck Ms Grace several times in the back of the head with the blunt end of the axe.
[9] You and David Holl then dragged Ms Grace to the bathroom. There both of you used the axe to hit Ms Grace several times in the face and chest until you were satisfied she was dead. In your interview with the police you explained how David
Holl told you to “finish her” when you were both in the bathroom.5
2 Transcript of interview of J Holl, 13 January 2013 at 20.
3 Transcript of interview of J Holl, 13 January 2013 at 24.
4 Ms Holl said the force she used was “eight to nine out of 10”, transcript of interview of J Holl,
13 January 2013 at 33.
5 Transcript of interview of J Holl, 13 January 2013 at 32.
[10] Ms Grace died soon after the attack from multiple blunt force injuries, the most significant being a laceration to her heart which cut through her major veins and arteries and her left lung. The pathologist’s report noted Ms Grace received 35 wounds. Most of the wounds were to her head, face, and chest. You told the police that you struck Ms Grace with the axe somewhere between six to 10 times and that
you struck her about the same number of times as David Holl struck her.6 You told
the police it took “a long time may be 5 or 10 minutes” for Ms Grace to stop
breathing.7
[11] After you and David Holl attacked Ms Grace you changed into clean clothes and David Holl hid the axe.
[12] The police arrived soon after the attack on Ms Grace. They had been alerted by neighbours who were concerned about the disturbance coming from Ms Grace’s home. You were arrested at the scene.
[13] When spoken to by the police you admitted your role in killing Ms Grace. You made a detailed statement to the police on 13 January.
[14] I accept that you were to some extent functioning under the influence of David Holl when you murdered Ms Grace. However, you have admitted striking the first blow with the axe and administering some of the final blows that caused Ms Grace’s death. David Holl was intent on killing his mother, and you actively participated in her murder.
The requirements for a 17 year minimum period of imprisonment
[15] Those who are convicted of murder are sentenced to life imprisonment unless a sentence of life imprisonment would be manifestly unjust. The minimum period of imprisonment for those sentenced to life imprisonment is ten years unless the case is
one in which the law says the minimum period must be at least 17 years
6 Transcript of interview of J Holl, 13 January 2013 at 32 and 35.
7 At 35.
imprisonment. In those cases, the minimum period must be imposed unless it would be manifestly unjust to do so.8
[16] Cases which attract a 17 year minimum period of imprisonment include those where the murder was committed with a high degree of brutality, cruelty, depravity or callousness.9 In my assessment, this factor was clearly present in your case because Ms Grace’s murder involved a high level of brutality. The attack you participated in involved multiple blows with an axe to Ms Grace’s head, face and chest. The attack occurred in both the lounge and bathroom to where Ms Grace’s body was dragged, where the final fatal blows were administered. The fact that you were one of two assailants, who were acting together against a single, slightly built
victim, underscores the brutality that was involved.
[17] Another criteria for imposing a minimum period of imprisonment of 17 years for murder arises where the murder involves calculated or lengthy planning.
[18] There is no doubt David Holl planned and calculated his mother’s murder. To some extent you also participated in the planning. You were with David Holl during the time he planned Ms Grace’s murder. David Holl told you what the plan was and how you were going to dispose of Ms Grace’s body and you were with
David Holl when he brought the axe into the house.10 While I accept David Holl
was primarily responsible for planning Ms Grace’s murder, you were an equal participant in murdering her.
[19] Even if I put the element of planning and calculation to one side, this was a brutal and cruel murder. I must therefore start on the basis that I am required to impose at least a 17 year minimum period of imprisonment unless it would be
manifestly unjust to do so.
8 Sentencing Act 2002, ss 102-104.
9 Section 104.
10 Transcript of interview of J Holl, 13 January 2013 at 23.
Reduction to the starting point of 17 years
(1) Your guilty plea
[20] I propose to give you a provisional discount of 18 months’ imprisonment because I believe that in the circumstances of your case it is desirable to recognise and give you some credit for your guilty plea, despite the strength of the Crown case against you.
[21] In setting this level of discount for your guilty plea I have borne in mind the policy that underpins the requirements of a 17 year minimum period of imprisonment for certain classes of murder.
[22] In my assessment, the desirability of giving you credit for your guilty plea and the purposes of the 17 year minimum period of imprisonment is best addressed in your case by an 18 month provisional discount for your guilty plea.
[23] You will be aware that this discount is six months less than I gave David Holl. This reflects the fact that he pleaded guilty eight months before you did, although I also appreciate that there were some health factors that influenced the decision for you to plead guilty very late in the process.
(2) Your mental status
[24] Dr Norris and Dr Barry-Walsh advise that you were diagnosed with a bi-polar disorder when you were 17. You are also said to have borderline personality traits and that you have suffered from depressive episodes and anxiety relating to social phobia. The Crown cannot rule out that your personality disorder may have contributed to your participation in the murder of Ms Grace.
[25] It is an accepted principle of sentencing policy that a defendant’s mental status, including his or her personality disorders, may mitigate a sentence if the defendant’s psychiatric or psychological condition has contributed to his or her
offending.11 However, the reduction in your culpability because of your personality disorder is counterbalanced by the need to protect the community from the risk of you reoffending because of your personality disorders.12
[26] In your case, your personality disorder may have contributed in some way towards your violent behaviour against Ms Grace.
[27] I propose to recognise the contribution of your personality disorder to your offending by provisionally providing a six month discount to reflect this factor.
(3) Your previous good character
[28] The Crown properly accepts that you are entitled to a discount to reflect your otherwise good character. It is to your credit that you have no previous convictions. I propose to give you an 15 month discount to reflect your previous good character.
(4) Remorse
[29] I have read the letter that you have written to Ms Grace’s family. I accept it demonstrates some remorse for which you are entitled to some credit and I shall give you a three month discount to reflect your remorse.
Overall assessment
[30] Having reached a provisional sentence of 13 years and six months’ imprisonment I now must decide whether or not it would be manifestly unjust to impose a 17 year minimum period of imprisonment that I am otherwise required to impose by law.
[31] In my assessment, it is important to recognise your guilty plea, your personality disorders, your previous good character and your remorse. Failing to impose a 13 year and six month minimum sentence of imprisonment in your case
would be manifestly unjust. It is also to be noted that the sentence I will impose on
11 Skilling v R [2011] NZCA 462.
12 E (CA689/10) v R [2010] NZCA 13, (2011) 25 CRNZ 411 at [69].
you equates to the minimum period of imprisonment that David Holl must serve in relation to his role in the murder of Ms Grace.
Conclusion
[32] Mrs Holl, can you please stand.
[33] I am sentencing you to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 13 years and six months for the murder of Ms Grace. You must serve at least 13 years and six months’ imprisonment before you can be considered eligible for parole. It will be for the Parole Board to determine when you may be eventually released.
[34] I am also required to give you what is commonly called a three strikes warning. This will be given to you in writing later this morning.
[35] That warning is that, if you are convicted of any serious violent offence (except murder) committed after you receive this warning, you will receive a final warning. In addition, if the Judge imposes a sentence of imprisonment for that offence (other than life imprisonment for murder, or preventive detention), then you will serve that sentence without parole or early release.
[36] If you are convicted of a murder committed after you have received this warning, you will be sentenced to life imprisonment. You must serve the life sentence without parole unless it would be manifestly unjust to do so. If you receive a life sentence without parole, you will not be released from prison. If serving that sentence without parole would be manifestly unjust, the Judge must specify the minimum term of imprisonment you will serve.
[37] You may now stand down.
D B Collins J
Solicitors:
Crown Solicitor, Nelson
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