Janelle Patton

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First Norfolk Island murderer in a century found guilty

Janelle Patton was a Sydney woman who was brutally murdered on Norfolk Island in 2002. The case made national headlines in Australia and New Zealand, as she was the first person to be murdered there since 1855, when the island was a penal colony.

Patton was living and working on the island at the time of her death, but was not a local.

On 1 February 2006, Glenn Peter Charles McNeill, a 28 year old New Zealand male chef, was arrested for her murder near the town of Nelson, on the South Island of New Zealand after being identified by an Australian Federal Police investigation. ^[1] He was subsequently extradited to Norfolk Island and formally charged with the crime.

McNeill claimed in the Norfolk Island Court of Petty Sessions that he accidentally hit Patton with his car,^[2] a statement he later retracted.^[3] He was transferred to Silverwater Correctional Centre in Sydney and took part in a directions hearing by conference call in late February 2006. A further directions hearing had been expected on 21 April 2006 followed by a committal hearing on Norfolk Island on 22 May 2006. ^[4]

(Note: Late in January 2006, the Norfolk Island Administration revoked a long-standing law enabling death by hanging for capital offences).

On 1 February 2007, McNeill formally went on trial for the murder. A press blackout was imposed by the judge, Mark Weinberg, to prevent any dilution of the limited potential jury pool. [1] On 1 March 2007, McNeill told the Supreme Court "I did not kill Janelle Patton," "I did not abduct her." "I did not see Janelle Patton that day." He said he would not now recall what he told police earlier, but "would have admitted to anything" due to his mental health problems.^[3] The trial ended on March 9th, 2007 with the eleven person jury returning a guilty verdict.^[5]