Marice McGregor murder accused to stand trial

LATEST: The one-legged man accused of murdering Whanganui woman Marice McGregor will fight the charge in a High Court trial.

Dean Richard Mulligan, 42, of Feilding, is yet to formally enter a plea to the murder of 45-year-old Ms McGregor on April 19.

During a brief appearance in the High Court at Whanganui this morning, it became clear Mulligan will defend the allegations, with Justice Simon France setting a trial date for May next year.

The trial was expected to take four weeks, he said.

Mulligan, who is missing one of his legs below the knee, appeared in court with crutches and was helped into the dock by two prison guards.

The guards flanked Mulligan, who was allowed to sit during the 10 minute appearance.

Dressed in a blue polar fleece and jeans, he struck a solemn figure in the dock, occasionally staring at his feet while Crown and defence lawyers discussed the finer points of his trial.

No one turned out to support him in the public gallery.

The Amputee Society of Manawatu's March 2008 newsletter names a Dean Mulligan of Sherwill St West, Feilding, as its newly-elected president.

Biographical information in the newsletter says Mulligan lost his leg, below the knee, in 1999, through a ''series of breakages'' in his ankle.

''One of the breakages was not set right. This led to an infection getting into the bones, which is why the leg had to be amputated,'' the newsletter says.

''I was using an artificial leg but I have developed pains at the end of the stump. I am unfortunately in a wheelchair, which limits the things I can do.''

A sign above the Sherwill St West home garage, which has since been removed, read ''Legless Computers''.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MARICE MCGREGOR

Ms McGregor, a sickness beneficiary, was last seen on April 19, collecting firewood and pine cones on Old Parapara Rd, in the Lismore Forest area, 20 kilometres north of Whanganui.

Her red Suzuki Escudo was seen abandoned later that day and she was reported missing a week later.

Her disappearance prompted a police hunt, involving search dogs, helicopters, police divers and geographical profilers.

Telecommunications experts were also called in after Ms McGregor's phone was turned on briefly in Feilding the morning after she was last seen.

Her body was found in a ravine off State Highway 4 on May 12, about 50km from Whanganui. It was a week before it was formally identified.

INVESTIGATION FALLS ON FEILDING

A house in Feilding's Sherwill St West, where Mulligan had been living, was placed under 24-hour police guard and forensically examined a day after the search began for Ms McGregor on April 28.

Whanganui Police also seized and examined a green Mitsubishi people-mover van, which neighbours say was frequently parked outside the property.

The van was central to the investigation throughout the 15-day manhunt, with police constantly appealing for sightings of it on April 19 - the day Ms McGregor was last seen.

Police said Mulligan was arrested and charged after turning himself in to police on May 25.

His arrest was the first shock in a series of high-profile tragedies that have thrust the tight-knit Feilding community into the national spotlight.

The town has since mourned the shotgun slaying of farmer Scott Guy, the plane crash that killed flying instructor Jess Neeson and her student Patricia Smallman, the death of Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell in Afghanistan, and the apparent murder-suicide of Deborah Honeyfield, Ian Honeyfield and Desmond Winnie.

- © Fairfax NZ News