The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association, better known simply as the RSA was first established in New Zealand on the 28th of April 1916 by veteran of the First World War Donald Simson.

The RSA is a registered charity that raises money to “provide support and comfort for service men and women and their families”. In 1921, the RSA successfully campaigned for ANZAC Day (the 25th of April) to become a public holiday.

However, there is one dark, horrifying moment in the history of the RSA, that would see the organisation the victim of one of the most cruel and depraved acts of violence in NZ’s history.

This savage, vicious crime took place only seventeen days before Christmas in December 2001 and resulted in the longest prison sentence in the annals of New Zealand. The events of that day went down in history as The RSA Murders.

Visit www.truecrimenz.com for more information on this case including sources and credits.

Hosted by Jessica Rust

Written and edited by Sirius Rust

Music sourced from:

“Day of Chaos” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“With the Sea” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Trio for Piano Cello and Clarinet” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Sunset At Glengorm” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Dark Pad” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Private Reflection” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Metaphysik” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Master Disorder” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Evening of Chaos” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Irregular” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Low Droning Synth Bass” Divider Line (https://archive.org/details/divider-lines-music-for-films)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The podcast version is the intended way to consume this story but we make a transcript available for those that would rather read instead.

This can be found below.

Case 35: The RSA Murders

HISTORY OF RSA

The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association, better known simply as the RSA was first established in New Zealand on the 28th of April 1916 by veteran of the First World War Donald Simson.

The RSA is a registered charity that raises money to “provide support and comfort for service men and women and their families”. In 1921, the RSA successfully campaigned for ANZAC Day (the 25th of April) to become a public holiday.

The RSA also introduced Poppy Day in 1922 to raise funds for unemployed New Zealand returned soldiers and their families. The first Poppy Day took place on the 24th of April 1922 and was a tremendous success, selling 260,000 poppies and raising £13,166 (equivalent to $1.5 million in 2024).

The RSA also established clubrooms for their members to socialise and mingle with their fellow returned soldiers.

The RSA remains one of the largest voluntary support organisations in NZ, with 189 local RSAs throughout the country. However, in recent years, due to time and their members passing on, membership has waned.

Due to this rules around membership have changed. Now, not only veterans or their families can join, but anyone can sign up for the organisation (albeit for an increased fee).

Nevertheless, at any RSA, on any given night, you can still find folk of all ages, sexes and veteran statuses, having a beer with pals, or perhaps ordering a steak for an anniversary meal with a loved one, and more than likely enjoying themselves and the atmosphere. 

However, there is one dark, horrifying moment in the history of the RSA, that would see the organisation the victim of one of the most cruel and depraved acts of violence in NZ’s history.

This savage, vicious crime took place only seventeen days before Christmas in December 2001 and resulted in the longest prison sentence in the annals of New Zealand. The events of that day went down in history as The RSA Murders.

WILLIAM DWANE BELL

William Dwane Bell was born on the 27th of December 1977 in the Auckland suburb of Mangere. One of a number of children to couple Mike Bell and Georgina Tahana.

Growing up, William, or Willie was surrounded by violence. His father, Mike Bell was a member of the Mongrel Mob gang and admitted to beating his son routinely to TVNZ on the 15th of December 2002, “I’m brought up from the old school and I think I treated William a bit too, well, over harsh… At that particular time all I knew was to do what I got”.

Mike Bell had plenty of run-ins with the law. Beginning at age 13, Mike’s arrest record includes burglary, theft, escaping from custody and many assaults.

Willie’s parents separated when he was seven years old. His father left for “younger pastures” and went on to have a new family with 10 children, according to William’s mother. This separation was something that reportedly the young boy “could not accept why his father had gone”.

It was around this time that William began his career in crime. Beginning with petty crime like ‘knicking’ money and small things but quickly grew into stealing bigger things like vehicles; stealing his father’s car at only ten years old. 

At seven years old, William was found wandering the streets. The government believed his parents were not fit enough to bring him up and he became a state ward, he was sent to Weymouth Residential Centre (a facility for children under the care of Child, Youth and Family).

Over the next decade, William Bell racked up a lengthy rap sheet. Charlotte Harris, Willie’s social worker, said that he was “out of control” during this time and the longest he ever stayed out of trouble was three months.

Examples of William Bell’s escapades during this time include car thefts, robbing retirement homes and impersonating security guards. In fact, William racked up more than 85 criminal convictions, including theft, fraud, unlawful taking of motor vehicles, burglary, entering with intent, demands with intent to steal, aggravated robbery, presenting a firearm, assault, trespass, traffic and drug offences.

William even reportedly impersonated a detective at the Auckland Central police station, signed a car out and took it for a joy ride. Even apparently pulling over other drivers and harassing them for their tail-lights not working. William’s father Mike Bell told TVNZ on the 15th of December 2002, referencing this time in William’s life, “I’d say I was hard, but I used to give him things like money, things like that, I think I might have given him too much money and then he took it for granted and when I didn’t have it he would go and pinch it from somewhere.”

At 14 years old, according to the article ‘Savage vengeance at the RSA’ written by NZ Herald journalist Patrick Gower on the 12th of December 2002, William Bell allegedly began working as a prostitute in Onehunga.

Reportedly after these encounters, Willie would steal the cars of the johns.

These sexual encounters were also referenced in the TVNZ documentary series Beyond the Darklands when William Bell’s case worker told the documentarians, “Yeah, he spoke of his sexual activities, and he would go into K Road and things like that and make money. And there were men that wanted to take him into their care for that purpose. When I advised them that I was going to put the police onto them, these men just disappeared… He actually spoke of being used and abused by his grandfather’s friends or the other old people. Mind you, I suppose he didn’t see it as abuse, he thought it was choice.”

However, William Bell denied he suffered any abuse and/or prostituted himself. Even lodging a complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority in 2009 claiming, “[the accusations] made in the programme [Beyond the Darklands] that he had been a prostitute were untrue and that he had never been “a prostitute” or “homosexual”. He also contended that the claims made in the programme that members of his family had abused him were incorrect and “fabricated”.”

The complaint was not upheld due to “… the comments were not presented as statements of fact. Rather, they formed part of the interviewees’ individual recollections and anecdotal stories describing their personal understanding and experience of what happened to Mr Bell during his childhood. These accounts were then analysed by the psychologist, who described the effects these negative experiences may have had on Mr Bell and their contribution towards shaping his life.”

Therefore, these specific allegations are unsubstantiated and we are not presenting them as fact.

GAS STATION ASSAULT 

23rd of February 1997. Sometime in the early morning hours. 37-year-old Jeff Gray is working his second job, working solo on the graveyard shift at the Mobil service station in Walmsley Road in the South Auckland suburb of Mangere. 

The exact details are unclear, but at some point during the night, 19-year-old William Bell walked into the Mobil station wearing a balaclava and carrying a police issue PR-24 baton, his 13-year-old brother Michael stood guard at the front of the premises.

Jeff Gray was kneeling over stacking shelves when a baton came swinging down violently, striking him in the head. William continued aggressively striking the man. 

Bell then began marching Jeff over to the register. As the twosome walked past the toilet. Jeff darted into the bathroom for safety, locking the door behind him.

A furious Willie began attempting to smash down the toilet door with his police baton, yelling at Jeff to get on the ground as he did so. Jeff begged Willie to take the money and leave, to which William replied, “It’s not the money that matters to me… I don’t want to do this, I have to”.

Jeff Gray then realised that William was not going to let him go peacefully. He bashed his way out of the bathroom, picked up a chair and used it as a battering ram as he ran at the two Bells who were guarding the exit. Jeff made it past the boys and to safety. 

After escaping, Jeff checked himself into the hospital.

Bizarrely, after Jeff escaped, William Bell removed all of his clothes, excluding his underpants but including his identity masking balaclava, and performed a dance for the security cameras.

Jeff Gray was in hospital about an hour later, waiting for his head to be stitched when a young Maori man approached him and asked him how he was doing, “Gidday bro, what happened to you?”. 

Jeff explained the story and the young man told him that his brother had been in an argument a few hours earlier at that same petrol station, and the man also claimed that he had been rejected from a job at the same station because he admitted to smoking cannabis. 

Jeff thought there was something off about this whole conversation but the man continued, “If it was about the money bro, why didn’t they just take it?”. The man then purchased Jeff a coffee and told him, bizarrely as if he was a police officer, “Give us some time, we’ll catch up with these guys and deal to them”.

Jeff Gray told the Sunday Star Times on the 15th of December 2002 for the article ‘His body language, his eyes, telling me to lie on my stomach. He was going to kill me’ that, “Within 10 minutes of him approaching me the penny dropped and I realised I was talking to my attacker [William Bell]… He’s the most repugnant person I’ve met”.

Ultimately, William Bell was arrested and sentenced to five years and nine months for the vicious assault on Jeff Gray. At sentencing Judge Linsay Moore told Bell, “There are aspects of your personality that… indicate a tendency to anti-social behaviour which may to some extent be ingrained in you… I mean that in a biological or genetic sense.”

Willie wrote an apology letter to Jeff Gray just before he was sentenced writing, in part, “I am myself going through punishment… I’m not talking about just being in jail. I’m talking about a life that has been taken away from me. My daughter was born today and God took her away from me… God has punish me and I will change.”

RELEASE

A now 23-year-old William Duane Bell was released on the 4th of July 2001 on parole after serving four years and two weeks of his five year sentence. 

Special conditions of William Bell’s release included setting up an appointment with the Corrections Department psychologist or having an assessment for drug and alcohol counselling. William did neither.

Another condition was for Willie to report weekly to his probation officer. However, due to a problem with the probation office, he reported after five weeks of being released.

It would seem that William was quite hostile to the concept of parole conditions. In fact, upon release, when given the paper with his parole conditions on them, he screwed it up and threw it in the bin.

Three months after being released from prison in October 2001, Bell was placed in a two week unpaid work experience stint at the Mount Wellington-Panmure RSA as a barman.

Reportedly, the stint at the RSA did not go well. Exact details of William’s behaviour are not publicly available but co-workers described him as rude, abusive and untrustworthy and not long into his work experience the office manager Faye Hjorth told him to “piss off and don’t come back”.

It would seem that William spent the following months in familiar habits. In late November, William talked his way past a cleaner at the St George Tavern in Papatoetoe by posing as a manager and stole $4,800 of the previous night’s earnings.

On another occasion, Bell walked into the engineering firm Harrison Grierson posing as an IT (information technology) manager. He was seen later loading $20,000 worth of computer equipment into a car. Both incidents were reported to the police but were not followed up on.

METHAMPHETAMINE USE

In 1887, Romanian chemist, Lazar Edeleanu, was the first person to synthesise the central nervous system stimulant amphetamine. Amphetamines are created using ephedrine; which is derived from ephedra, a plant native to China and Mongolia.

Amphetamines work by speeding up the messages travelling between the brain and the body. Amphetamines have also been used as performance-enhancing drugs in athletes. The stimulant has been shown to increase muscle strength, delay fatigue and improve reaction time.

The psychostimulant drug has become a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy and obesity.

As with all drugs, amphetamines have addictive properties and have the potential to be abused. Due to this fact, street versions of amphetamine exist; Speed being one example. 

In 1919, Japanese chemist Akira Ogata synthesised methamphetamine hydrochloride via reduction of ephedrine using red phosphorus and iodine. Interestingly, during World War II, Japanese factory workers were also given methamphetamine to allow them to work long hours along with German soldiers and pilots to keep them alert during missions. There are even some theories and evidence that German dictator Adolf Hitler abused methamphetamine throughout World War II.

Methamphetamine became illegal in New Zealand under the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1975. Yet, a black market for the drug still exists and the drug that goes by many names; Meth, Crack, Crystal, Ice, P – is widely abused in NZ. In fact, according to the New Zealand Research Programme, an average of 14.1 kilograms of meth is consumed nationally per week. This makes NZ the fourth-highest consumer of ‘P’ in the world, only behind the United States, the Czech Republic and Australia. At somewhere between $100-200 a gram, meth is relatively cheap compared to other stimulants like cocaine. 

Long term abuse of methamphetamine may exhibit side effects including a number of psychotic features including paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and delusional thinking. Other side effects include significant anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, and violent behaviour. 

In reality, those intoxicated with methamphetamine are about five times more likely to be aggressive and violent. Drinking alcohol while on meth will increase those odds.

Hostile aggression is most likely in cases of meth-induced psychosis, where the person is about 25% likely to become violent.

During the months after being released from prison William Bell admitted to smoking methamphetamine (P) frequently, combining this with his propensity to indulge on alcohol and cannabis and you have a person with potentially a loose grip on reality and potential for explosive violence.

8 DECEMBER 2001

8th of December 2001. 2 am. William Bell arrives at Darnell Kere Tupe, his neighbour’s house after having been drinking at the Manukau League Club.

William had known Darnell Tupe since they were in intermediate school. Darnell lived at the address with his wife and two children. William, Darnell and his wife Hikitea Hikutai, along with another friend Rangi Rore (who had just been released from prison) continued drinking and smoking cannabis into the night. 

At some point, Rangi Rore passed out from drinking on the front door of the house. The other three continued.

In the early morning hours, William asked Darnell if he would like to ‘do a job’. This was something Darnell’s wife protested as he had already been to jail and didn’t want him to go back.

William told Hikitea to shut up, and told Darnell, “Don’t listen to your missus” before calling him a ‘poofter’.

William and Darnell left the property in a car sometime in the early morning hours of the 8th of December 2001.

7.15 am. The two men arrive outside the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA on Pleasant View Road in a car, William Bell in the passenger’s seat and his neighbour Darnell Kere Tupe behind the wheel. 

William Bell exited the vehicle, wearing a police shirt and carrying a guitar case.

Willie approached the locked door of the RSA. Inside, 37-year-old Susan Couch recognised William from his previous work experience and approached the door. William showed Susan the guitar case and said he was here to return it. 

Once inside, the exact timeline of events becomes somewhat unclear but the following account has been pieced together from newspaper articles and eyewitness testimony to the best of our ability with the sources available, but be aware that some conjecture is used here. 

After entering the RSA, William removed the shotgun from the guitar case and took the two workers inside hostage. The two hostages were cleaner 44-year-old Mary Hobson and part-time accountant 37-year-old Susan Couch. 

William marched Susan Couch and Mary Hobson upstairs into the office at gunpoint, Willie demanded Susan open the safe and take out the previous day’s earnings, he then made Susan open every pay slip. William reportedly said at one point during this process, “You will tell it was me, won’t you? You will identify me.”

Bell pocketed the money and he stored it in a plastic crate. The process of robbing the RSA took about 15 minutes, netting William approximately $12,000. 

At some point, RSA President 63-year-old Bill Absolum and club member 56-year-old Wayne Johnson, who was there to set up the pool tables, arrived. William promptly took them hostage.

William made all the hostages empty their wallets and hand over any money they had, he then stole cigarettes from behind the bar.

Bell then took the next half an hour carrying out his barbaric vengeance on the RSA. William separated the hostages and began beating each one with the butt of the shotgun from behind as they knelt. It is unclear in what order William carried out these crimes but what is clear is he used the weapon as an axe, he brought the gun down with savage force, over and over, reportedly laughing as he did this.

44-year-old cleaner Mary Hobson was reportedly on her knees praying when her beating began. A ring on her finger was flattened from the force of the blows as she tried to cover the back of her head from the violence. She passed away from the attack.

63-year-old RSA president Bill Absolum suffered a similar fate. He died on the floor of the RSA surrounded by blood from the head wounds from the beating.

56-year-old club member Wayne Johnson was standing on the brand new parquet dance floor when William began to bludgeon him. Reportedly Wayne tried to fight back or defend himself or others in some way. William unloaded his shotgun at point-blank range killing the man, but reportedly Willie beat him even after death. Susan Couch heard William say “He tried to be a hero.”

William’s final hostage, 37-year-old part time accountant Susan Couch was beaten in the office upstairs. She was beaten until her lips were blue and her hair was matted with blood. As William left, Susan lay dying under her desk.

After satisfying his vengeance, at approximately 8 am, William left the RSA with a trolley filled with the guitar case which carried the shotgun, and a plastic crate filled with cash and cigarettes. He walked out the door to find that his getaway car was gone, Darnell Kere Tupe had abandoned him.

With no other options, William stole Susan Couch’s car, a Toyota Corolla FX-GT hatchback and left the scene.

MURDER SCENE AT THE RSA

Alan Eastwood, vice-president of the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA arrived at the club at 9 am on the 8th of December 2001. He walked in to find the massacre.

He saw three dead bodies lying on the floor, Mary Hobson, Bill Absolum and Wayne Johnson.

Alan then ascended the stairs to the president’s office and found Susan Couch. Remarkably, she was not dead. However she was in bad shape from a brutal beating, lying on her back with the left side of her face unrecognisable and swollen.

Alan called 111, “The president is down. The cleaner’s down. The office girl is down, she’s still alive… And there is one other person. I’m not sure who he is. He’s on the dance floor”. 

Alan checked for pulses on the three bodies but could not find any, he then waited for emergency services to arrive.

AFTERMATH OF MURDER

William called Darnell and said to meet him at the Manukau Shopping Centre. Darnell arrived with his cousin 40-year-old Ciano Smith and picked up Willie who was still wearing the police uniform. Ciano said at a later date that William was furious that Darnell had deserted him at the RSA, and believed that he wanted to kill him because of this.

The trio then went to a motel where they shared the loot and disposed of the evidence. At some point, William said to Darnell “We’re going to go down for this. We’re going to go down big time – I’ve just killed three people”.

Then William rented a room at the Airport Centra Hotel. He spent the night watching movies with his girlfriend and ordering room service. One of the films the duo watched was the Australian film Chopper, about the notorious Mark Brandon Read who is alleged to have killed at least 19 people over 20 years.

POLICE INVESTIGATION

Police began investigating the murders upon discovering the crime scene in the early hours of the 8th of December 2001.

While the exact actions of the police are unclear. It is reasonable to believe that William Bell was a suspect from the beginning, considering he briefly worked at the RSA and further considering his extensive criminal record, including violent crime.

Two days later on the 10th of December 2001, police discovered the abandoned vehicle of the sole survivor of the massacre, Susan Couch,  a Toyota Corolla FX-GT hatchback. It was found approximately 15 minutes away from the murder site on Otara Road.

Susan Couch was still in the hospital at this time in critical condition. She had lost 80% of her blood, as well as a skull fracture, lacerations to the head and brain damage, two breaks to her right arm and a break to her left arm and a fractured cheek bone. 

It is unclear when Susan began speaking to police. It is perhaps around this time however, because in the coming days, accomplice to the crime Ciano Smith (who helped William and Darnell dispose of the evidence) was picked up and questioned by police.

Ciano immediately began sharing any information he knew. Claiming he did get rid of evidence but was unaware of the severity of the crime at the time.

Ciano told police he was willing to testify to this in court but would like immunity from prosecution as an accessory to murder. Ciano said at a later date that, “I don’t feel proud, or good about this [testifying]. I don’t feel good about any bloody thing … I don’t want no Brownie points. I just hope they [the families] get some satisfaction.”

Five days after the crime on the 13th of December 2001, William Bell was asleep in bed at his mother’s house in Mangere when armed police came crashing in. He pulled the bed covers over his head as police entered his room. He was arrested for triple murder, attempted murder and aggravated robbery.

Darnell Tupe was also arrested and charged with three charges of manslaughter and one charge of aggravated robbery.

TRIAL

The trial of the RSA murders commenced on the 30th of October 2002. 

William’s defence was that other people were involved in the murders and while he was responsible for robbing the RSA, he was not responsible for the murders.

William Bell took the stand in his own defence. However, his testimony contradicted much of the evidence, leaving many to believe he was lying. 

When Detective Inspector Gavin Jones, who was in charge of the murder inquiry, took the stand, he told the jury that he believes William is “the closest thing I have ever seen to a psychopath… He is callous, cunning and calculating – he’s a psychopathic murderer… Make no mistake about it – when he went to do that robbery he was not going to leave anybody alive.”

On the 12th of December 2002, both William Bell and Darnell Tupe were found guilty of their charges.

Darnell Tupe was sentenced to 12 years for three charges of manslaughter and a concurrent term for one charge of aggravated robbery.

William Bell was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 33 years (this was reduced to 30 years on appeal) as well as 13 years for attempted murder and a concurrent 12 years for aggravated robbery. At the time, the longest sentence ever handed out in New Zealand (only surpassed by the sentence given to Brenton Tarrant, the perpetrator of the Christchurch terrorist attacks in 2019).

LEGACY

The survivor of the RSA massacre, Susan Couch ultimately survived her injuries. However, she carried the burden of that morning with her for the rest of her life. As a result of her injuries, she still has difficulty speaking and walking to this day. The injuries to her head made it hard for her to keep a job and she subsequently had a stroke.

After fighting for 11 years for some sort of compensation for the attack. Eventually in 2012, Susan Couch was awarded $300,000 from the Department of Corrections in punitive damages (punitive damages are damages assessed in the legal process to punish a defendant for negligence).

Susan told John Campbell on Campbell Live that, “This is the closest to the apology I will get. People don’t realise that when they make an apology they are validating someone’s suffering and not just ignoring them. It’s not a formal apology, but it’s ‘Whoops. Sorry. Our bad.’, so I’ll take it”.

Darnell Tupe was released from prison in 2012, after serving 10 years of his 12 year sentence. However, Darnell was recalled to prison in 2013 for breaching his parole by assaulting his sister and driving while disqualified. It is unclear what happened to Darnell after this, but it would seem he kept relatively out of trouble as this is the last update we could find on him.

William Bell remains in prison, this year will be his 22nd year of his life sentence. He will not be eligible for parole until December 2031, when he will be 54-years-old. However, the Court of Appeal has raised the possibility that William will never be released from prison, writing, “The psychiatric reports before the court suggest that he represents, in the words of one of them, a high and persistent risk of violent offending… Unless that risk can be convincingly dispelled, Bell ought to be kept in custody for the rest of his natural life.”

CONCLUSION

The massacre that took place at the Mount Wellington-Panmure RSA on the 8th of December 2001 is one of the most violent and callous crimes in NZ history.

A vicious crime that took the lives of three people, 44-year-old Mary Hobson, 63-year-old Bill Absolum and 56-year-old Wayne Johnson, and created much suffering for the one survivor, Susan Couch. And the motivation? For all of this suffering and hurt? $12,000.

The question we always ask when we conclude these episodes is why? Why did this happen? What could have been done to prevent it?

Obviously, the Department of Corrections played a role in releasing William and not properly monitoring his parole conditions, or recalling him to prison when those conditions were breached.

Public Service Association (the union representing probation officers) national secretary Richard Wagstaff told Patrick Gower of the NZ Herald on the 14 of February 2003 for the article ‘Slipping through probation cracks’ that a lack of sufficient funding played a role, “They have insufficient resources at their disposal and high caseloads to get through, which leads to significant amounts of pressure and stress, which in turn leads to low morale.”

The suffering wasn’t only relegated to the victims and their families but also affected William Bell’s own family. Both Mike Bell and Georgina Tahana (William’s parents) expressed great ongoing sadness for the victims and their families.

Georgina told TVNZ on the 15th of December 2002 for the article ‘Killer’s parents talk about their son’, “… when she found out why William had been arrested the guilt of having raised a child who was capable of such an act was too much for her and she seriously contemplated taking her own life. She said it was only the thought of her other children that enabled her to pull herself together.”

Mike Bell in that same article reflected on his parenting, and he wondered if anything he did or didn’t do played a role in the murders, “… [Mike] accepts some of the responsibility of where William is now. He says if he could change just one thing it would be to show his son more love.”

—

END

—

SOURCES

RSA History
The Original RSA, History of the Royal NZ RSA, https://theoriginalrsa.org.nz/history-of-the-royal-nz-rsa/
NZ History, New Zealand’s first poppy day, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/new-zealands-first-poppy-day-held
RSA, About the RSA, https://www.rsa.org.nz/about/

Methamphetamine Articles
National Institute on Drug Abuse, Methamphetamine Research Report: What are the long-term effects of methamphetamine misuse?, https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/what-are-long-term-effects-methamphetamine-misuse
Stuff.co.nz, ‘Anyone can get it’: Methamphetamine is cheap and easy to find in New Zealand, https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/122568982/anyone-can-get-it-methamphetamine-is-cheap-and-easy-to-find-in-new-zealand
360 edge, Aggression As a Side-effect of Ice, https://360edge.com.au/ice-side-effects-aggression/
Stuff.co.nz, Kiwis in worldwide top five for methamphetamine use, report finds, https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/126942476/kiwis-in-worldwide-top-five-for-methamphetamine-use-report-finds
The Recovery Village, Who Invented Meth: The History of Meth & Its Links to WWII, https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/meth-addiction/who-invented-meth/
Live Science, What Are Amphetamines?, https://www.livescience.com/64180-amphetamines.html
Wikipedia, Amphetamine, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine
Wikipedia, Methamphetamine, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine

RSA Murders
Wikipedia, William Dwane Bell, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dwane_Bell
NZ Herald, Tragic murders leave scars on RSA, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tragic-murders-leave-scars-on-rsa/6PICPC24PUHO2QQ3UINJEDC5KY/
NZ Herald, Slipping through probation cracks, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/slipping-through-probation-cracks/P7J67H5WXCAHEX46OJAZLBIDT4/
NZ Herald, Survivor tells of tragic error on day of RSA killings, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/survivor-tells-of-tragic-error-on-day-of-rsa-killings/AU2GNI32HI5IO2MQUKDRKCILJI/
NZ Herald, Witness tells why he testified against psychopath, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/witness-tells-why-he-testified-against-psychopath/ZONACE62FT3ZWATLF32HU64S4I/
NZ Herald, RSA member describes finding bodies in club, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rsa-member-describes-finding-bodies-in-club/54LVD7BEECKG6HLBEU7EOM7CWU/
NZ Herald, Corrections Department pays RSA survivor $300,000, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/corrections-department-pays-rsa-survivor-300000/ECEZDVQEB5KHW7NYTXMUOYG5WU/
NZ Herald, Jury convicts ‘psychopath’ Bell of triple slaying, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/jury-convicts-psychopath-bell-of-triple-slaying/AYPISHRPGSHCFFIBYJJUZ3LGKE/
NZ Herald, Triple murderer gets record non-parole prison term, https://web.archive.org/web/20121020063922/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rsa-murders/news/article.cfm?c_id=618&objectid=3100971
NZ Herald, RSA getaway driver recalled to prison, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rsa-getaway-driver-recalled-to-prison/ILKO2OSZI23NOZNRNZE6WJVUHE/
TVNZ, Major development in RSA killings, https://web.archive.org/web/20121022074329/http://tvnz.co.nz/content/70635
TVNZ, Crown describe RSA crime scene, https://web.archive.org/web/20101024225042/https://www.tvnz.co.nz/content/142464
TVNZ, Big boost for RSA slaying inquiry, https://web.archive.org/web/20121022073928/http://tvnz.co.nz/content/70558
TVNZ, Killer’s parents talk about their son, https://web.archive.org/web/20140525201234/http://tvnz.co.nz/content/155847/4202557/article.html
Now to Love, RSA killings: the survivor and her saviour, https://www.nowtolove.co.nz/news/real-life/rsa-killings-the-survivor-and-her-saviour-6156
Broadcasting Standards Authority, Bell and Television New Zealand LTD – 2009-052, https://www.bsa.govt.nz/decisions/all-decisions/bell-and-television-new-zealand-ltd-2009-052/

Court Documents
Murderpedia, The Queen V William Dwane Bell, https://murderpedia.org/male.B/images/bell_william_dwane/appeal.pdf

Newspaper Articles
NZ Herald, Guilty verdicts in RSA murders, 12 December 2002, Pg A1
Sunday Star Times, His body language, his eyes, telling me to lie on my stomach. he was going to kill me, 15 December 2002, Pg A4
NZ Herald, Killer faces lifetime in jail, 14 February 2003, Pg A4
NZ Herald, Lax probation staff left Bell free to murder, 14 February 2003, Pg 1
NZ Herald, Long lonely fight for justice, 13 January 2007, Pg B4-B5
NZ Herald, Mates try to erase the horror, 14 February 2003, Pg A5
NZ Herald, Moral Obligation for Compensation, 13 January 2007, Pg B5
NZ Herald, RSA Scene too painful for victim, 12 December 2002, Pg A3
NZ Herald, Tragedy as police miss leads, 12 December 2002, Pg A2
Herald on Sunday, Raising a Killer, 17 June 2007, Pg 27-28
Herald on Sunday, Tragic murder of trio leaves scar on RSA, 11 December 2011, Pg 36-37