Christine Marie Lundy, 38, and her seven-year-old daughter Amber Grace Lundy were found dead in their Palmerston North home on the morning of 30 August 2000. Police said both were killed with a tomahawk-like implement that was never recovered. Investigators collected 21 hairs from beneath Christine's fingernails, but they were never tested for DNA and were destroyed by police in December 2003 despite requests from Mark Lundy that evidence in the case be preserved.
Mark Lundy, Christine's husband and Amber's father, had travelled to Petone on business the day before the killings, checking into a motel and later spending time with a sex worker that evening. Police initially considered 60 suspects and ruled out 55 before focusing on Mark Lundy. After a six-month investigation, police arrested and charged him in February 2001.
At his first trial in 2002, the prosecution argued Lundy drove from Petone to Palmerston North and back — a 134-kilometre trip each way — within a three-hour window to commit the murders, relying heavily on testimony from a Texas pathologist who identified a mark on Lundy's shirt as Christine's brain tissue, and on a witness who described seeing a person running near the Lundy home. Lundy was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years, later increased to 20 years on appeal to the Court of Appeal in 2002.
In 2013, the Privy Council quashed Lundy's convictions after finding that exculpatory evidence about the reliability of the brain-tissue testing had been withheld at the first trial, creating profound divisions among experts that could only be resolved by a new jury. At the 2015 retrial, the Crown presented a different theory — that Lundy drove to Palmerston North and back in the middle of the night after the sex worker left his motel — and introduced new mRNA testing on the shirt stains. Lundy was found guilty again in April 2015. The mRNA evidence was subsequently ruled inadmissible by the Court of Appeal in 2018, but his conviction was upheld on the basis that other evidence still proved guilt. The Supreme Court of New Zealand dismissed a further appeal in December 2019, concluding the evidence established beyond reasonable doubt that Lundy murdered Christine and Amber Lundy.
Later reporting disclosed that the 21 hairs found under Christine's fingernails and fibres found on a window near the presumed point of entry were sent to the Institute of Environmental Science and Research but never tested, and the hairs were destroyed by police. In 2022, the Criminal Cases Review Commission agreed to investigate Lundy's case. He was denied parole in 2022 and 2023 over concerns about a lack of a safety plan, and was granted parole in April 2025, being released on 7 May 2025 after 23 years in prison, subject to conditions including a media-interview ban that was lifted in December 2025. In the latest cited reporting, the CCRC had not announced a decision on his application.
Mark Lundy drives from Palmerston North to Wellington on business and checks into the Foreshore Motor Lodge in Petone; later that evening he spends time with a sex worker at the motel.
2000-08-30
The bodies of Christine Lundy and Amber Lundy are found in the family home in Palmerston North by Christine's brother, Glenn Weggery, at around 9:00 am.
2000-09-04
One of the 60 initial suspects, Sheridan Martin Murphy, dies by suicide.
2001-02
Mark Lundy is arrested and charged with the murders after a six-month police investigation.
2002
At his first trial in the High Court in Palmerston North, Lundy is convicted of both murders and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.
2002
Lundy's appeal to the Court of Appeal is unsuccessful; his non-parole period is increased to 20 years.
2013-06-17
Privy Council hearing on Lundy's appeal begins in Britain.
2013-10-04
The Privy Council quashes Lundy's convictions and orders a retrial, citing profound divisions among experts on brain-tissue evidence.
2015-04
At his retrial, Lundy is found guilty of both murders for a second time.
2017-10
Lundy appeals his second conviction to the Court of Appeal in Wellington.
2018-10
The Court of Appeal rules the mRNA evidence should not have been admitted but dismisses the appeal, finding no substantial miscarriage of justice.
2019-05
Lundy is granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court on the 'proviso' argument.
2019-12-20
The Supreme Court of New Zealand dismisses Lundy's appeal, upholding his convictions.
2020
Journalist Mike White reports that 21 hairs found under Christine Lundy's fingernails were never tested and had been destroyed by police in December 2003.
2022-08
Lundy attends his first parole board hearing and is denied release.
2022
The Criminal Cases Review Commission agrees to investigate Lundy's case.
2023-05
Lundy attends a second parole board hearing and is again denied release.
2025-04
Lundy is granted parole after a further hearing.
2025-05-07
Lundy is released from prison after serving 23 years.
2025
Mike White discloses that blood-soaked fibres found on a window near the presumed point of entry were also never tested by police.
2025-12
The Parole Board removes the media-interview ban previously placed on Lundy, while a social media ban remains in place.
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Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Dr. Todd Grande / 14 min
Mark Lundy Case Analysis | Impossible Time Window Murders
People
Amber Grace Lundy
VICTIM
7-year-old daughter of Mark and Christine Lundy, found bludgeoned to death alongside her mother on 30 August 2000.
Christine Marie Lundy
VICTIM
38-year-old wife of Mark Lundy, found bludgeoned to death in the family home in Palmerston North on 30 August 2000.
Mark Edward Lundy
CONVICTED
Husband of Christine and father of Amber; convicted of both murders in 2002, had the conviction quashed by the Privy Council in 2013, convicted again at retrial in 2015, and released on parole in May 2025 after 23 years in prison while a CCRC review of his case continued.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Christine Lundy, 38, and her 7-year-old daughter Amber were found killed in their Palmerston North home on 30 August 2000. Mark Lundy, Christine's husband and Amber's father, was convicted in 2002; after the Privy Council quashed those convictions and ordered a retrial, he was convicted again in 2015. He was released on parole in May 2025 after 23 years in prison, while his application to New Zealand's Criminal Cases Review Commission remained undecided in the latest cited reporting.
Where did the murders happen?
Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Who was convicted?
Mark Edward Lundy (Husband of Christine and father of Amber; convicted of both murders in 2002, had the conviction quashed by the Privy Council in 2013, convicted again at retrial in 2015, and released on parole in May 2025 after 23 years in prison while a CCRC review of his case continued.).
