Julia DeLuney, 53, is on trial in Wellington High Court, New Zealand, after her 79‑year‑old mother, Helen Gregory, was found dead at their Khandallah home on January 24, 2024, local media reports stated.
Prosecutors say DeLuney not only killed her mother but also ran a complex crypto scheme in the days before the alleged murder. They claim she drained over $40,000 from her mother’s crypto accounts and fabricated trading profits to cover her expenses.
Charges and Allegations
DeLuney is charged with murdering her mother at the Baroda Street house in Wellington. The Crown says she could not afford her own bills without large cash deposits and crypto withdrawals.
Police allege these funds came from broken trust and outright theft. DeLuney denies the killing, and her defence team argues that officers focused too much on her and that someone else may have been responsible.
Alleged Crypto Scam
Court documents indicate that from January 2023 to January 2024, DeLuney transferred $156,555.30 from her bank accounts to crypto trading platforms.
During this same time, only $88,173.03 was recovered. This created a shortfall of $68,382.27, which prosecutors allege DeLuney attempted to conceal by pretending to realise profits that never existed.
Close associates of Helen Gregory testified in court, saying that she had spoken about missing considerable amounts of money from her residence before her death.
Financial Scrutiny in Court
Forensic accountant Eric Huang looked at DeLuney’s business records and wallet addresses. He pointed out that crypto withdrawals constituted DeLuney’s largest cash flow source, alongside $74,850 in cash deposits.
According to Huang, DeLuney had been losing money for the prior seven months, but her expenditures dwarfed her resources without these additional funds.
He cited June 25, 2023, as an exemplar date where $29,800 was placed into smart ATMs, yielding $29,800. Of those, four parts amounting to $20,000 occurred within hours of each other.
Witness Accounts
Several friends of Helen Gregory spoke at the trial. Cheryl Thomson said Gregory had told her two large sums of cash were missing, and that her daughter was the only person who knew where the money was hidden.
According to Thomson, when Gregory asked DeLuney about it, DeLuney replied she had invested the funds in cryptocurrency and assured her mother the money was safe. Another friend, Elizabeth Askin, estimated the missing amount was about $75,000.
DeLuney’s lawyers say police had tunnel vision when they arrested her. She insists her mother fell from the attic and that she drove to the Kāpiti Coast to fetch help.
She argues the actual killing took place in the 90 minutes she was away. The defence says there is no proof DeLuney intended to harm her mother.
New Zealand’s Crypto Reforms
This case comes as New Zealand tightens rules on cash and crypto to fight crime. The government plans a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency ATMs. It will also set stricter cash transfer limits to stop drug money laundering.
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee said these changes are part of a major update to the country’s anti‑money‑laundering laws. Police identified 157 crypto ATMs as high risk for untraceable transactions.
As the trial continues, the court will weigh DeLuney’s financial troubles and her claim of innocence against the Crown’s evidence of theft and murder.
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