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[Music]
00:01:41
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00:01:43
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00:01:45
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00:01:47
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00:01:52
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00:01:54
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00:01:56
[Music]
00:02:04
christy marco was abruptly awoken by the
00:02:06
sharp ringing of her family's telephone
00:02:09
the 18 year old had been sleeping in
00:02:12
it was 10 am on tuesday september 6 2011
00:02:17
and she didn't need to be anywhere that
00:02:18
morning
00:02:20
christy was nearing the end of her first
00:02:23
year at new zealand's auckland
00:02:24
university of technology
00:02:26
where she was studying events management
00:02:29
her dream was to have her own events
00:02:31
company by the age of 30.
00:02:34
for now she was still living in the
00:02:36
family home where she'd grown up
00:02:38
in the suburb of hillcrest on the city's
00:02:40
north shore
00:02:43
the phone stopped ringing before christy
00:02:45
could answer it
00:02:46
she hadn't gotten to it in time but then
00:02:50
a few seconds later it started ringing
00:02:52
again
00:02:54
this time christy picked up the receiver
00:02:57
and said
00:02:58
hello a male voice on the other end
00:03:01
asked to speak with her this is christy
00:03:05
she replied it turned out that the
00:03:09
caller was an acquaintance of hers named
00:03:11
akshay chand up until recently the pair
00:03:15
had both worked at the same local
00:03:17
supermarket
00:03:18
they weren't close but they were
00:03:20
friendly chatting during their shifts
00:03:22
and sometimes talking outside of work
00:03:24
via facebook messenger
00:03:27
they lived to just a few blocks from one
00:03:29
another and
00:03:30
chant had been over to christy's house
00:03:32
on several occasions
00:03:34
he often needed someone to speak with
00:03:36
about his personal problems
00:03:39
kind and open-hearted christie was
00:03:42
always willing to listen
00:03:45
christy knew that chant had been
00:03:47
struggling lately
00:03:49
but she couldn't have anticipated what
00:03:51
he said next
00:03:53
her heart sank as he stated
00:03:56
i put 40 pills into a drink and i've
00:03:59
crushed them
00:04:00
all and if you don't get to my house
00:04:02
within 10 minutes
00:04:03
i'm gonna drink them without hesitating
00:04:08
christy headed over to help chant
00:04:20
[Music]
00:04:39
christie marco had been in such a rush
00:04:41
after receiving
00:04:42
akshay chan's call that she barely had
00:04:45
time to get dressed
00:04:47
she hastily pulled on a pair of black
00:04:49
tracksuit pants and a jumper
00:04:51
over the blue top bra and bikini bottoms
00:04:54
that she'd been sleeping in
00:04:56
then she grabbed her keys and mobile
00:04:58
phone ran outside to her car
00:05:01
and drove the one kilometer journey to
00:05:03
chan's home
00:05:06
it wasn't in christie's nature to ignore
00:05:08
a cry for help
00:05:10
she harbored a soft spot for those who
00:05:12
found life more difficult
00:05:14
once during high school she'd noticed a
00:05:17
younger boy standing all alone
00:05:19
when christy asked if he was alright the
00:05:22
boy told her he had no friends
00:05:25
christy took it upon herself to
00:05:27
introduce him to a group of students his
00:05:29
age
00:05:30
and helped him make conversation with
00:05:31
them
00:05:33
the boy's mother later called the school
00:05:35
to pass along her thanks to christy
00:05:40
her deep sense of compassion had also
00:05:42
led christie to volunteer for an animal
00:05:44
welfare charity
00:05:45
and organised fundraisers aimed at
00:05:47
ending world hunger
00:05:49
she had a wide circle of friends from
00:05:51
all walks of life that she socialized
00:05:54
with
00:05:54
often unlike christie
00:05:57
akshay chand had a very small circle of
00:06:00
friends
00:06:01
he was extremely intelligent but
00:06:03
socially awkward
00:06:05
especially around women he and his
00:06:08
family had emigrated to new zealand from
00:06:10
fiji
00:06:11
when he was four years old
00:06:15
as children chant and christy were in
00:06:17
the same year at willow park primary
00:06:19
school
00:06:20
but they didn't really know one another
00:06:22
they went on to attend
00:06:24
different high schools and didn't meet
00:06:26
again until they finished school and got
00:06:28
jobs at the same supermarket
00:06:30
christy behind a checkout and chand at
00:06:33
the meat counter
00:06:35
christy was kind and friendly and as
00:06:38
they spent more time working together
00:06:40
chant began to confide in her
00:06:44
the truth was he was depressed and felt
00:06:46
miserable about his
00:06:48
life he wasn't close with his family and
00:06:51
felt directionless when it came to his
00:06:53
future
00:06:55
christy felt sorry for akshay chant but
00:06:58
his attention towards her had started to
00:07:00
feel a little intense
00:07:03
in june 2011 she left her position at
00:07:06
the supermarket for a new job at a
00:07:08
cheese shop
00:07:10
without work throwing them together she
00:07:12
saw a lot less of chant
00:07:15
by the time he called her on the morning
00:07:17
of september 6
00:07:18
it had been a while since the pair had
00:07:20
spoken
00:07:22
christy knew how he'd been struggling
00:07:25
surely if he was calling her threatening
00:07:27
suicide then he was in
00:07:29
serious trouble
00:07:30
[Music]
00:07:35
it only took a few minutes for christy
00:07:37
to arrive at the apartment building
00:07:39
where chand lived with his mother and
00:07:41
younger sister
00:07:43
she parked her car on the street and
00:07:45
walked up the steps to knock on the
00:07:47
property's screen door
00:07:50
chant answered and invited her in
00:07:53
christy followed him through the front
00:07:55
door which he locked behind them
00:07:58
there was no one else home chan's mother
00:08:01
was working
00:08:02
and his 16 year old sister was at school
00:08:06
as the two teenagers sat down in two
00:08:09
chairs facing one another
00:08:11
christy noticed some white powder on a
00:08:13
benchtop
00:08:15
it looked as though it had been left
00:08:17
after someone had crushed up some pills
00:08:21
clearly chant was serious when he said
00:08:24
he'd prepared a drink
00:08:25
laced with a medication
00:08:28
christy asked him where the drink was
00:08:32
do you think i am stupid he replied
00:08:35
i obviously hid it because i knew that
00:08:37
you'd find it
00:08:40
then he began rambling telling christy
00:08:43
how he had some specific
00:08:45
aims and a task he'd been planning for
00:08:47
the day
00:08:49
concerned christy encouraged him to get
00:08:52
some professional help
00:08:54
this advice upset chant the way he saw
00:08:58
it
00:08:58
christy had hardly been there for him
00:09:00
since she'd left the supermarket
00:09:03
he began ranting accusing her of not
00:09:06
even trying to be his friend
00:09:09
christy explained that she'd been busy
00:09:11
with her university studies and her new
00:09:13
job
00:09:14
chant retorted that she could have taken
00:09:17
five minutes to contact him on facebook
00:09:19
and that would have been enough then he
00:09:22
added
00:09:24
let's face it we both know that you
00:09:26
haven't been very busy
00:09:30
christy was growing nervous the more
00:09:33
chand badgered her about why she hadn't
00:09:35
attempted to
00:09:36
help him the more she tried to explain
00:09:38
that she wasn't in a position to do so
00:09:41
he needed to see a mental health
00:09:42
professional
00:09:44
chand responded that he didn't need that
00:09:47
at all
00:09:48
what he needed was christy's help
00:09:52
then he told her that he had cervical
00:09:54
cancer
00:09:56
christie disputed this informing him
00:09:58
that only females could get that disease
00:10:02
chant abruptly changed his story
00:10:04
claiming he had prostate cancer instead
00:10:09
making up stories about having cancer
00:10:11
was too much for christy
00:10:13
it was a serious illness not something
00:10:16
to use to get attention
00:10:18
she told chand as much
00:10:21
his expression grew angry and he stood
00:10:24
from his chair
00:10:25
looming over her suddenly
00:10:28
he reached into the back waistband of
00:10:30
his tracksuit pants
00:10:31
and pulled out a long kitchen knife
00:10:38
the knife was about 20 centimetres long
00:10:41
and very
00:10:42
sharp chan's right fist tightly held its
00:10:45
handle
00:10:46
as he waved it over christy this is how
00:10:49
it's gonna go
00:10:50
he said if you scream i'm gonna knife
00:10:54
you
00:10:56
christy began to sob which prompted
00:10:59
chant to tell her to shut up and calm
00:11:01
down
00:11:03
she was still holding her mobile phone
00:11:06
in one hand and
00:11:07
thought about texting her best friend
00:11:09
for help
00:11:10
but chant noticed the device and
00:11:13
demanded
00:11:14
give me your phone christy held onto it
00:11:17
tightly
00:11:19
it was the only connection she had to
00:11:21
the outside world
00:11:23
chand tried to wrestle it out of her
00:11:25
hand saying we can either do this the
00:11:29
hard way or the easy way
00:11:31
you know what you'll get if you don't
00:11:32
give it to me
00:11:36
he succeeded in prising the phone away
00:11:38
from christy
00:11:39
and placed it out of her rage then he
00:11:43
turned his attention back to the matter
00:11:45
at hand
00:11:47
as he started explaining to christy
00:11:50
chand had
00:11:51
several things he wanted to accomplish
00:11:53
that day
00:11:55
first he wanted to terrify her next
00:11:58
he wanted to enact revenge against her
00:12:01
for abandoning him
00:12:03
and finally once those missions were
00:12:05
complete
00:12:06
he would take his own life
00:12:10
christy continued to cry chant ordered
00:12:13
her to remove her jumper and hand it to
00:12:16
him
00:12:17
she did and once the garment was in his
00:12:19
hands
00:12:20
he rummaged through its pockets after
00:12:23
finding them empty
00:12:24
chant demanded christy take off the blue
00:12:27
top she was wearing as well
00:12:29
christy refused you know what will
00:12:33
happen if you don't do it
00:12:34
chand warned christy pulled the top off
00:12:38
over her head
00:12:39
and passed it to chant
00:12:41
[Music]
00:12:43
then he told her to stand up and prove
00:12:45
that she wasn't hiding any objects in
00:12:47
her tracksuit pants
00:12:49
christy did so emptying both pockets
00:12:53
he then told her to remove her pants
00:12:57
christy refused and cried even harder
00:13:01
again chant threatened her with the
00:13:03
knife
00:13:05
realising she had no choice christy took
00:13:08
off her pants
00:13:09
leaving her only in her underwear
00:13:13
chand gathered all of her clothes and
00:13:15
bundled them into a pile
00:13:17
before taking a seat in an armchair
00:13:21
he began talking again his rantings were
00:13:24
confusing and bizarre
00:13:27
sometimes he discussed the economic
00:13:29
system of capitalism at length
00:13:31
then he'd switched to talking about
00:13:33
spiritual matters like god
00:13:35
and the devil according to chant
00:13:39
the devil had tried to grab him one
00:13:40
night and ever since then
00:13:42
he'd been fighting a losing battle
00:13:44
against evil
00:13:46
he rambled on and on complaining that
00:13:49
people like christy
00:13:50
caused others to suffer
00:13:54
chant accused her of only being there
00:13:56
for him when it was too late
00:13:58
saying when i needed help you were too
00:14:02
busy
00:14:03
and then when i finally make this
00:14:05
desperate call to you
00:14:06
you're here by now
00:14:10
more than half an hour had passed since
00:14:12
christy had arrived at the apartment
00:14:15
terrified she asked are you going to
00:14:19
kill me
00:14:24
chance reminded christy of the three
00:14:26
aims he'd had for the day
00:14:28
to scare her to get revenge and to kill
00:14:31
himself
00:14:33
he'd never said how he intended to have
00:14:35
revenge
00:14:36
but now he was ready to tell her
00:14:39
he planned to rape her
00:14:42
christy burst into tears again prompting
00:14:45
chant to tell her to compose herself
00:14:49
then all of a sudden he changed his mind
00:14:53
abruptly he told christy that she could
00:14:56
leave
00:14:58
he returned her clothes and mobile phone
00:15:02
still petrified christy didn't trust
00:15:04
chan's unexpected change of heart
00:15:07
what if he planned to catch her off
00:15:09
guard by stabbing her as soon as she
00:15:11
turned her back
00:15:13
she aired this fear prompting chant to
00:15:16
put the knife down
00:15:19
i'm gonna let you go he said but i just
00:15:22
want you to know
00:15:23
that once you leave i'm gonna drink the
00:15:25
drink i made
00:15:28
christy briefly paused trying to
00:15:30
convince chant
00:15:31
not to do it despite what he'd put her
00:15:34
through
00:15:35
her conscience wouldn't allow her to
00:15:37
just walk away when he said that
00:15:40
but chant was insistent
00:15:43
too scared to stay a minute longer
00:15:46
christy turned and ran
00:15:47
out of the apartment she raced down the
00:15:51
stairs that led to ground level
00:15:53
and over to her car other people were
00:15:56
out and about
00:15:57
strolling along the footpath with no
00:16:00
idea of what had just happened to her
00:16:03
christy thought about asking one of them
00:16:05
for help but she knew she wouldn't feel
00:16:08
safe until she was back in her own home
00:16:11
once she was in the driver's seat
00:16:13
christy locked her car doors
00:16:15
and started the engine then she made her
00:16:18
way home
00:16:21
as far as christy's parents were
00:16:23
concerned she had been their miracle
00:16:25
baby
00:16:27
shortly after having their first child a
00:16:29
girl they named heather
00:16:31
tracy and brian marso tried to conceive
00:16:33
again
00:16:34
it had taken them six long years before
00:16:37
christy was born
00:16:38
and their family was complete
00:16:41
heather and christy looked the same but
00:16:44
they had very different personalities
00:16:46
where heather was quiet and serious
00:16:49
christie was bubbly and mischievous
00:16:52
despite these differences and the years
00:16:55
between them
00:16:55
the two sisters loved each other dearly
00:17:00
by 2011 the close knit marso family was
00:17:03
somewhat scattered
00:17:05
heather had moved out of home years
00:17:07
earlier while brian worked at a mine in
00:17:10
south australia
00:17:11
he would fly there for weeks at a time
00:17:14
and return home to new zealand when he
00:17:16
could
00:17:17
tracy planned to move to adelaide in the
00:17:19
new year so she could be closer to her
00:17:22
husband
00:17:23
christy wanted to go too she would
00:17:26
transfer to an australian university
00:17:28
and was excited at the prospect of
00:17:30
living in a new city
00:17:33
on the morning of christie's attack
00:17:35
tracy was busy at work
00:17:37
when her mobile started ringing at
00:17:39
around 11 30.
00:17:42
glancing down at its screen she saw that
00:17:44
her mother
00:17:45
surely was calling shirley lived with
00:17:49
her
00:17:49
and granddaughter christy in a
00:17:50
self-contained flat on their house's
00:17:53
lower level
00:17:55
tracy answered the call she could hear
00:17:58
christy crying hysterically in the
00:18:00
background
00:18:02
then tracy heard her mother's voice
00:18:05
love i think you would better come home
00:18:08
christy has been attacked
00:18:12
tracy immediately left work and was home
00:18:15
within 15 minutes
00:18:17
upon seeing her mother christy embraced
00:18:20
her and wouldn't let go
00:18:22
sobbing and shaking the entire time she
00:18:25
told tracy what akshay chant had done to
00:18:28
her
00:18:30
tracy didn't know chant well he
00:18:33
certainly wasn't one of christie's
00:18:34
friends
00:18:35
though she had mentioned his name after
00:18:37
she started working at the supermarket
00:18:39
with him
00:18:41
christy had described him as a lonely
00:18:43
boy with few friends
00:18:46
one sunday a few months earlier tracy
00:18:49
and christy returned home
00:18:51
after driving brian to the airport and
00:18:53
found
00:18:54
chand waiting in their driveway
00:18:57
christy chatted with him for a little
00:18:59
while and then he went home
00:19:02
christy had reassured her mother that
00:19:04
chand just needed to speak to someone
00:19:06
who was nice to him
00:19:08
but his behavior unnerved tracy
00:19:12
there was something about the teenager
00:19:14
that made her deeply uncomfortable
00:19:17
she asked christy not to speak to him
00:19:19
anymore
00:19:21
christy was adamant that he was nothing
00:19:23
to worry about
00:19:24
and there were no more incidents that
00:19:26
tracy was aware of
00:19:28
until the assault in his home that
00:19:30
morning
00:19:34
the details of what had happened to her
00:19:36
daughter devastated
00:19:38
terrified and sickened tracy
00:19:41
she took christie to north shore police
00:19:43
station to file an official complaint
00:19:46
christy recounted her ordeal again for
00:19:49
the police
00:19:51
she revealed that during the assault
00:19:53
she'd been able to hear the voices of
00:19:55
akshay chan's neighbours next door
00:19:57
[Music]
00:19:58
she'd deliberately tried to cry loudly
00:20:01
hoping they might hear her
00:20:04
she had also tried to placate chant by
00:20:07
agreeing with him
00:20:08
when he told her how awful she was a
00:20:11
strategy she'd learned about while
00:20:13
watching police procedural programs like
00:20:15
criminal minds christy had considered
00:20:20
trying to escape by running for the
00:20:22
front door
00:20:23
but it was locked and she knew that if
00:20:25
she fumbled or chant caught up to her
00:20:28
she'd be in trouble she even wondered if
00:20:32
she should
00:20:32
let chand stub her just once perhaps if
00:20:36
he did
00:20:37
the reality of the violence would have
00:20:38
snapped him out of whatever he was
00:20:40
thinking
00:20:42
then she would have been free to leave
00:20:44
and see her family again
00:20:48
christy had no idea why chand had
00:20:51
suddenly changed his mind and
00:20:52
let her go but she was convinced that
00:20:56
wasn't over
00:20:56
and that he might attack her again
00:21:00
she revealed that chand had actually
00:21:02
been stalking her for a while
00:21:05
unbeknownst to her parents she'd come
00:21:08
home to find him sitting on her doorstep
00:21:10
more than once he had also followed her
00:21:13
home after a work party
00:21:15
where he'd gotten very drunk not long
00:21:18
after that
00:21:19
he left a note in the letterbox in which
00:21:21
he confessed his love for her
00:21:23
and insisted that she help him by
00:21:25
becoming his counsellor
00:21:28
chand also tried to give her a large sum
00:21:30
of money as a gift
00:21:33
christy refused to accept it but he was
00:21:36
insistent
00:21:37
she held onto it suspecting he would ask
00:21:40
for it back
00:21:41
he did a few days later
00:21:45
chand constantly rambled to christy
00:21:47
about diseases he thought he had
00:21:49
or how he hated capitalism which he
00:21:52
blamed for ruining his family
00:21:55
she was polite but found their
00:21:57
conversations frustrating
00:22:00
when christy resigned from her job at
00:22:02
the supermarket
00:22:03
chand quit on the same day saying he had
00:22:06
no reason to be there if she was gone
00:22:10
it was abundantly clear that he now
00:22:13
harbored a lot of anger towards her
00:22:16
she was terrified at the thought that he
00:22:18
was still out there
00:22:20
[Music]
00:22:22
the police officers who took down
00:22:24
christie's statement
00:22:25
understood the danger akshay chand was
00:22:28
unpredictable and unstable
00:22:31
they held christie's concerns that he
00:22:33
could strike again
00:22:36
detectives were quickly dispatched to
00:22:38
his residence to place him
00:22:40
under arrest
00:22:46
after christy had left chan's home he
00:22:48
retrieved the drink he prepared earlier
00:22:52
he'd filled it with around 50 crushed
00:22:54
multivitamin tablets
00:22:56
which he'd stolen from his mother he had
00:22:59
read somewhere that consuming a large
00:23:01
quantity of multivitamins had a toxic
00:23:04
effect on the human body
00:23:06
chant had swallowed the drink intending
00:23:09
to end his life
00:23:12
some time later his 16 year old sister
00:23:15
returned home from school
00:23:17
chant asked her to call an ambulance for
00:23:19
him and the paramedics took him to north
00:23:22
shore hospital's emergency department
00:23:25
once there chand was assessed by a
00:23:28
psychiatric registrar and a nurse
00:23:31
he admitted to feeling depressed and
00:23:33
unloved and said his parents
00:23:36
couldn't care less about his struggles
00:23:39
he hadn't always felt this way
00:23:44
as a child akshay chand had always been
00:23:47
quiet
00:23:47
and shy but enjoyed periods of happiness
00:23:51
when he was eight years old his family
00:23:53
had relocated to wales for his father's
00:23:56
work
00:23:58
chant flourished in the uk and would
00:24:00
later reflect on his time there as the
00:24:02
happiest he'd ever been
00:24:05
but in less than two years chant moved
00:24:08
back to new zealand with his mother and
00:24:10
sister
00:24:11
his father stayed behind soon
00:24:14
chant's parents had announced their
00:24:16
plans to separate
00:24:18
after that he had little to do with his
00:24:21
father
00:24:24
the young boy was academically brilliant
00:24:26
with teachers describing him as smart
00:24:29
polite and full of potential however
00:24:32
by his mid-teens his grades were rapidly
00:24:35
falling
00:24:36
instead of going on to university as
00:24:38
many had expected
00:24:40
chand didn't even graduate his final
00:24:42
year at school
00:24:46
though he had previously had a small
00:24:48
group of close friends
00:24:49
his social life dwindled as he became
00:24:51
more withdrawn
00:24:53
spending most of his time holed up in
00:24:55
his bedroom
00:24:57
he would read listen to music and play
00:24:59
chess online
00:25:02
chand became fixated with capitalism
00:25:05
after reading
00:25:06
das capital by german philosopher and
00:25:08
economist
00:25:09
karl marx at night he struggled to sleep
00:25:13
and would make up for it by staying in
00:25:15
bed the next day
00:25:18
his weight fluctuated but he never
00:25:21
abused the drugs or alcohol
00:25:24
his lack of motivation led him to
00:25:26
resisting his mother's entreaties that
00:25:28
he resume his studies
00:25:29
or find a job chand was exhibiting
00:25:33
classic
00:25:33
symptoms of depression
00:25:37
eventually his aunt organized a job for
00:25:40
him at the same supermarket where she
00:25:42
worked
00:25:43
it was there that he met christy marso
00:25:46
one of the few girls who he felt
00:25:48
comfortable speaking to
00:25:50
soon he was opening up to her about his
00:25:54
problems
00:25:58
though chant told the hospital staff how
00:26:00
awful he'd been feeling and how rejected
00:26:02
he felt by his peers
00:26:04
he mentioned nothing about christy or
00:26:07
what he'd done to her
00:26:08
earlier that day the psychiatric
00:26:12
registrar diagnosed
00:26:13
chand as having depression with
00:26:15
suicidality
00:26:17
he found no symptoms of psychosis but
00:26:20
made a point of writing in his notes
00:26:24
some grandiose or entitled flavor to his
00:26:27
discussion
00:26:28
also slightly narcissistic
00:26:31
he prescribed chant with an
00:26:33
antidepressant and referred him to a
00:26:35
community mental health team for
00:26:37
follow-up
00:26:40
when the police arrived at chan's
00:26:42
residence they found only his mother at
00:26:44
home
00:26:45
she had no idea where her son was
00:26:49
the officers managed to track him down
00:26:52
at north shore hospital
00:26:53
where they began to interview him as
00:26:56
police queried him about each stage of
00:26:58
the attack against christie
00:27:01
chand responded to almost every question
00:27:04
by simply saying
00:27:05
yeah within minutes
00:27:08
he'd admitted to everything that same
00:27:12
evening he was charged with kidnapping
00:27:14
assault with intent to commit sexual
00:27:16
violation and
00:27:18
threatening to do grievous bodily harm
00:27:24
chand was transferred to the police
00:27:26
station so a formal interview could take
00:27:29
place
00:27:30
he said that he'd been planning to rape
00:27:32
christy but inexplicably changed his
00:27:35
mind and decided to let her go
00:27:38
his motive for the entire attack had
00:27:41
been revenge
00:27:43
chand said that he'd been furious at
00:27:45
christy for not helping him with his
00:27:47
depression
00:27:48
and admitted to still wanting vengeance
00:27:52
although akshay chand had never been in
00:27:55
trouble before
00:27:56
the police were extremely concerned by
00:27:58
the violent nature of his crimes
00:28:01
as one of the station's detectives noted
00:28:04
his actions were
00:28:06
quite a big jump for somebody who had
00:28:08
never offended before
00:28:11
plus he was apparently still harboring
00:28:14
anger towards christy
00:28:17
the officers were in no doubt as to what
00:28:19
should happen next
00:28:21
chand should be kept in custody until
00:28:23
the case could go to court
00:28:26
detective sergeant james watson prepared
00:28:29
a document
00:28:30
titled grounds for opposing bail
00:28:33
in it he detailed how upshay chand had
00:28:36
admitted to attacking and detaining
00:28:38
christie marco
00:28:39
with the intent of sexually assaulting
00:28:41
her
00:28:43
his confession meant that a conviction
00:28:45
was extremely likely
00:28:47
and incarceration would be inevitable
00:28:49
given the seriousness of his crimes
00:28:53
detective watson made a particular point
00:28:56
of noting christy's extreme
00:28:58
fear of chant and her desire that he be
00:29:01
detained
00:29:03
the proximity of their homes to one
00:29:05
another meant that he could be at her
00:29:07
house within minutes
00:29:08
if he decided to strike again
00:29:14
three days after the attack akshay chand
00:29:17
appeared in court
00:29:19
his attorney argued her client should be
00:29:22
granted bail as he was just 18 years old
00:29:26
the country's bail act at the time meant
00:29:28
that defendants who were over the age of
00:29:30
17
00:29:31
but under the age of 20 must be released
00:29:34
on bail
00:29:35
unless they had a prior conviction
00:29:38
chant had no previous arrests let alone
00:29:41
convictions
00:29:44
chan's attorney conceded that his mental
00:29:46
health issues were a factor
00:29:48
but explained he was about to start
00:29:50
taking antidepressants
00:29:52
if given bail he would live with his
00:29:54
mother so she could supervise him
00:29:57
he would also attend a psychiatric
00:29:59
appointment within a week of release
00:30:03
the police prosecutor protested these
00:30:05
conditions
00:30:06
telling judge barbara morris that chan's
00:30:09
mother's home was totally inappropriate
00:30:12
if travelling by car it was
00:30:14
approximately one kilometer from
00:30:16
christie marco's house
00:30:18
it was even closer to reach by foot
00:30:22
chant and christie's homes sat in
00:30:24
streets that were practically parallel
00:30:26
to one another
00:30:27
and adjust 350 meters apart
00:30:31
chand could cut across a reserve that
00:30:34
separated their two blocks
00:30:35
and b at the marso residence within five
00:30:38
minutes
00:30:41
judge morris agreed that such an
00:30:43
arrangement was unacceptable
00:30:46
despite the bail act the only way she
00:30:49
would consider providing bail was if
00:30:51
chand agreed to stay at a mental health
00:30:53
facility
00:30:55
however it was unlikely such a facility
00:30:58
would accept him
00:30:59
as he wasn't exhibiting the sorts of
00:31:01
symptoms that required intervention in
00:31:03
accordance with new zealand's mental
00:31:05
health act
00:31:08
ultimately judge morris ordered that
00:31:10
akshay chan to receive a full
00:31:12
psychiatric assessment
00:31:14
and denied him bail citing public safety
00:31:17
concerns and christie marso's anxieties
00:31:21
i must take her wishes into account
00:31:24
judge morris said
00:31:25
i do not consider it prudent or wise to
00:31:28
grant bail
00:31:29
until at least a full forensic report
00:31:31
can be obtained
00:31:38
meanwhile christy was struggling
00:31:41
the traumatic ordeal she had suffered
00:31:44
shattered her sense of safety and
00:31:45
security
00:31:47
her father brian was still away in
00:31:49
australia and wouldn't be returning for
00:31:52
almost a week
00:31:54
christy knew that if she told him about
00:31:56
the assault he would fly home
00:31:58
immediately
00:31:59
not wanting to cause her father any
00:32:01
distress she decided
00:32:03
not to tell him what had happened until
00:32:05
he arrived back
00:32:06
[Music]
00:32:09
christy was too scared to sleep in her
00:32:12
own room
00:32:12
which sat on the lower level of her home
00:32:15
she initially slept beside her mother
00:32:18
after two weeks she moved into the spare
00:32:21
room next to her parents
00:32:23
eventually she was able to return to her
00:32:26
own bed
00:32:27
but if she heard strange sounds during
00:32:29
the night she would ask her mum and dad
00:32:31
to check up on them
00:32:34
christy also no longer felt safe taking
00:32:37
public transport
00:32:39
her parents would drop her off at work
00:32:41
or university
00:32:42
then collect her afterwards she kept a
00:32:46
diary and saw a counsellor to deal with
00:32:48
the trauma she had been left with
00:32:51
her greatest fear was that akshay chand
00:32:54
would be released
00:32:56
she wasn't only scared for her own life
00:32:58
she was terrified he might target her
00:33:00
family
00:33:01
or become fixated with another girl
00:33:06
by early november life was slowly
00:33:08
starting to feel good again
00:33:11
chand was finally going to trial on
00:33:13
wednesday november 9
00:33:15
and in a couple of months christy and
00:33:17
her parents would be moving to australia
00:33:20
what was initially planned as an
00:33:22
exciting new chapter
00:33:24
was now going to be the opportunity for
00:33:26
a much needed
00:33:27
fresh start
00:33:30
on the morning of sunday november 6
00:33:33
christy and tracy went out for brunch
00:33:35
together
00:33:37
christy was seeing a friend later that
00:33:39
day but was keen to spend some quality
00:33:42
time with her mum beforehand
00:33:45
she was determined to have pancakes so
00:33:47
they went from cafe to cafe
00:33:49
until they found one that had them on
00:33:51
the menu
00:33:53
as they sat in ate the two happily
00:33:55
discussed their upcoming plans
00:33:58
tracy and brian were planning to take
00:34:00
christy to see some pandas at the zoo
00:34:04
christy planned to wear a panda hat she
00:34:06
owned for the occasion
00:34:09
as they chatted christy made a point of
00:34:11
saying to tracy
00:34:13
mum i love you
00:34:22
the next morning tracy got up at 6 30 to
00:34:25
get ready for work
00:34:27
she let the family dogs outside ate
00:34:30
breakfast
00:34:31
and took a shower still wearing her
00:34:34
dressing gown
00:34:35
she was preparing to get dressed for the
00:34:37
day when there was a knock at the front
00:34:39
door
00:34:41
it was still early about seven am but
00:34:44
tracy wasn't surprised by the knock
00:34:48
kristy liked to shop online and her
00:34:50
orders were usually delivered at the
00:34:52
start of the day
00:34:54
as christy was still in bed sleeping in
00:34:57
before a late morning shift at work
00:35:00
tracy went to answer the door herself
00:35:04
standing on the doorstep was a young man
00:35:08
tracy didn't recognize him at first
00:35:12
then tracy realised it was akshay chant
00:35:17
he was holding a knife
00:35:32
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tara washed over tracy as chand pushed
00:41:44
his way inside
00:41:45
brandishing the weapon at her she
00:41:48
screamed as loudly as she could
00:41:50
hoping christy would hear realise
00:41:52
something dangerous was happening
00:41:54
and escape or maybe some neighbors would
00:41:57
hear and call for help
00:42:00
still threatening tracy with the knife
00:42:02
chand asked who else was in the house
00:42:06
thinking quickly tracy told him her
00:42:08
husband was home
00:42:10
it was a lie he had gone back to
00:42:13
australia for work
00:42:16
chand seemed to know this prompting
00:42:18
tracy to wonder
00:42:19
if he'd been watching them for some time
00:42:24
suddenly christy appeared on the
00:42:26
staircase near tracy enchant
00:42:28
barefoot and wearing a t-shirt and boxer
00:42:31
shorts
00:42:32
her mother's screams had woken her and
00:42:35
she walked up from her bedroom to see
00:42:37
what was wrong
00:42:39
upon seeing chant christy screamed
00:42:42
oh my god frozen with fear
00:42:46
she stood at the top of the stairs
00:42:47
without moving
00:42:49
chant continued to point the knife at
00:42:52
tracy
00:42:52
while edging closer to christy then he
00:42:56
kicked her
00:42:57
square in the chest sending her tumbling
00:42:59
down the stairs
00:43:02
christy fell back then managed to get to
00:43:04
her feet
00:43:06
she scrambled down the rest of the
00:43:07
staircase
00:43:09
in her rash she slipped and fell again
00:43:13
then she got up and ran through the
00:43:16
self-contained flat where her grandma
00:43:18
surely lived out towards the back garden
00:43:22
chand chased after her
00:43:26
decided to call for help given what
00:43:29
chant had done the last time
00:43:31
she thought he was intending to threaten
00:43:33
and scare christie
00:43:34
surely once her daughter reached
00:43:36
downstairs she would be able to lock
00:43:38
herself in shirley's flat
00:43:40
preventing chant from reaching her
00:43:44
the police were familiar with the case
00:43:46
and would prioritize her call
00:43:49
they'd be here within minutes and could
00:43:51
arrest chant
00:43:53
panicked tracy dialed emergency services
00:43:58
police sent police she begged the
00:44:00
operator
00:44:02
there's a guy got into our house and
00:44:04
he's after my daughter
00:44:06
just as she gave her address she heard a
00:44:09
scream
00:44:11
it was christy tracy dropped the phone
00:44:15
and ran downstairs
00:44:18
christy was lying on the deck outside in
00:44:21
the garden
00:44:22
there was a pool of blood beneath her
00:44:25
chant was standing nearby
00:44:29
tracy raced to her daughter and held
00:44:31
christy in her arms
00:44:33
she couldn't see any injuries on her
00:44:35
front but christy didn't seem able to
00:44:38
move
00:44:40
it looked like she was struggling to
00:44:42
breathe
00:44:44
tracy repeatedly told her daughter that
00:44:46
she loved her
00:44:47
and encouraged her to hold on because
00:44:49
help was on the way
00:44:53
it looked to tracy as though christy was
00:44:55
trying to tell her something
00:44:58
then as she gazed into christy's eyes
00:45:01
tracy saw the light go out of them
00:45:04
christy had died
00:45:06
[Music]
00:45:10
chand was still standing nearby
00:45:13
as tracy turned her attention to him she
00:45:16
saw the knife remained in his hand
00:45:19
its blade now bent at a 90 degree angle
00:45:24
chant was covered in blood
00:45:27
not caring if he attacked her next tracy
00:45:30
screamed at him that he had killed
00:45:32
christy in an emotionless voice
00:45:36
he replied i am glad
00:45:47
police arrived at the scene less than 10
00:45:49
minutes after the attack began
00:45:52
chand was still standing in the backyard
00:45:55
listening to music on an ipod
00:45:58
the bands and broken knife now lay on
00:46:00
the ground
00:46:02
an officer approached him and asked why
00:46:04
he was there
00:46:06
chant replied reprisal
00:46:11
another officer noticed that chan's
00:46:13
hands were shaking
00:46:15
and asked him why he answered
00:46:19
it's not easy to kill someone is it
00:46:24
chant was placed under arrest and taken
00:46:27
to north
00:46:28
shore police station tracy had the
00:46:31
painful task of notifying her other
00:46:33
daughter heather
00:46:34
and her husband brian of what had
00:46:36
happened to christy
00:46:38
heather immediately rushed over to be
00:46:40
with her family
00:46:42
but brian had to catch two separate
00:46:44
flights from australia
00:46:46
to make it back to auckland a police
00:46:49
officer met him as soon as his plane
00:46:51
landed in new zealand
00:46:53
and a sobbing brian was rushed through
00:46:55
customs
00:47:00
the grief-stricken marcos had been
00:47:02
terrified that something like this would
00:47:04
happen
00:47:04
ever since akshay chand had been granted
00:47:07
bail about one month earlier
00:47:10
although judge barbara morris had
00:47:12
initially refused bail when chant was
00:47:14
first arrested for kidnapping christie
00:47:16
in september
00:47:18
she had requested that further reports
00:47:20
be commissioned
00:47:21
with a view to reconsidering the matter
00:47:23
soon
00:47:25
chan's age and his lack of priors
00:47:27
entitled him to bail
00:47:29
under new zealand law he and his lawyer
00:47:33
quickly filed a second application
00:47:36
as well as commencing medication and
00:47:38
receiving further mental health reviews
00:47:41
chand had written a seemingly heartfelt
00:47:43
letter to the court
00:47:45
expressing his remorse for attacking
00:47:47
christie
00:47:49
it read in part
00:47:52
i am incredibly sorry for the ordeal i
00:47:55
put christy through
00:47:57
given the chance i will apologize to her
00:48:00
her parents
00:48:01
and anyone else affected ironically
00:48:04
the last thing she said to me was that
00:48:07
she was sorry
00:48:08
it's only after the events of the day
00:48:11
that she realized how much pain
00:48:13
depression had caused me and how much i
00:48:15
needed her
00:48:16
and vice versa she
00:48:20
was my emotional outlet
00:48:23
there was nothing i couldn't tell her
00:48:25
and vice versa
00:48:27
she's really adamant and i'm sure she
00:48:30
feels
00:48:31
she's the one to blame
00:48:34
i take full responsibility for my
00:48:37
actions
00:48:37
and accept the consequences of my
00:48:40
wrongdoings
00:48:43
christy also submitted her own letter
00:48:46
pleading that chant be denied
00:48:48
baal she wrote
00:48:52
i am worried that he may still try to
00:48:54
get revenge on me
00:48:55
as he is already in trouble and has
00:48:57
nothing to lose if he tries again
00:49:00
this causes me to worry for my safety
00:49:04
i would like to get on with my life but
00:49:06
at present
00:49:07
i need to know that i don't have to
00:49:09
encounter him as i try to restore my
00:49:11
faith in people
00:49:13
this has caused me a lot of distress
00:49:18
chan's application was heard on october
00:49:21
5 before
00:49:22
judge david mcnaughton
00:49:25
although the judge read christie's
00:49:27
letter and was aware police wanted to
00:49:30
keep the defendant in custody
00:49:32
he made the decision to grant akshay
00:49:34
chand bail
00:49:36
he was to stay at his mother's home just
00:49:39
350 metres from christie's
00:49:42
under constant family supervision
00:49:45
he was only permitted to leave for
00:49:46
medical and illegal appointments
00:49:48
which he had to attend with the
00:49:50
chaperone
00:49:52
and he was barred from having any
00:49:54
contact whatsoever with christy marso
00:50:00
the police were bitterly disappointed at
00:50:02
this turn of events
00:50:04
but they reassured the massos that they
00:50:06
would protect them
00:50:08
officers would perform random checks to
00:50:10
ensure chand was home
00:50:12
at various times of the day
00:50:16
every single officer working across the
00:50:18
north shore was also briefed on the case
00:50:21
so they could keep an eye out for chant
00:50:24
in total police had checked on chant 23
00:50:28
times
00:50:28
during the 32 days he was out
00:50:31
he had been home every time
00:50:35
despite their assurances christie's fear
00:50:38
escalated
00:50:41
during the month that chant had been in
00:50:43
custody she had slowly been trying to
00:50:45
return to life
00:50:46
as she'd known it before the small sense
00:50:50
of security that she'd gradually
00:50:52
regained
00:50:52
was shattered in an instant knowing that
00:50:56
chand was free and living mere meters
00:50:58
away from her
00:50:59
had made her feel more unsafe than ever
00:51:01
before
00:51:04
32 days later he showed up at her
00:51:07
doorstep
00:51:08
with a knife
00:51:13
forensic experts processed the crime
00:51:15
scene at the marco residence
00:51:18
photographs were taken of the blood
00:51:19
spatters across the deck
00:51:21
and murder weapon which had become bent
00:51:23
and broken
00:51:24
after chand viciously stabbed christy
00:51:27
between 10
00:51:28
and 15 times he'd attacked her from
00:51:32
behind
00:51:32
delivering a violent blow to the back of
00:51:35
her head
00:51:36
the force of this had caused christy to
00:51:39
fall to the ground
00:51:40
where chant continued to stab her in the
00:51:43
back
00:51:44
the initial wound had been so
00:51:46
incapacitating
00:51:47
that christy would have felt little
00:51:49
after that
00:51:52
akshay chand was interviewed at length
00:51:55
by detective
00:51:55
darren atwood as with the first attack
00:51:59
he appeared extremely calm and admitted
00:52:02
to everything
00:52:05
chant had been plotting to kill christy
00:52:07
for some time
00:52:09
despite seemingly having a change of
00:52:11
heart and releasing christy the first
00:52:13
time he assaulted her
00:52:15
chand never let go of his desire for
00:52:18
revenge
00:52:20
he started thinking about killing her
00:52:22
while he was in custody after this
00:52:24
initial attack
00:52:26
he knew he'd had to get out of jail so
00:52:28
he could follow through with it
00:52:31
he had feigned remorse in his letter to
00:52:33
judge mcnaughton
00:52:35
in the hopes that this would increase
00:52:36
his chances of getting bail
00:52:39
once he was out he began to make plans
00:52:45
chant knew that christy and her family
00:52:47
would be on guard in the days following
00:52:49
his release
00:52:50
so he decided to bide his time
00:52:54
if he waited a few weeks before striking
00:52:56
then he was more likely to catch her
00:52:58
unawares
00:53:02
although the judge had believed chand
00:53:04
would be under constant supervision
00:53:07
his mother succeeded had to work most
00:53:09
days
00:53:11
his younger sister who was just 16 was
00:53:14
scared of chant
00:53:15
and started staying over at friends
00:53:17
houses to avoid
00:53:18
being near him before going to work
00:53:23
tsuchita made a point of hiding all the
00:53:25
kitchen knives in a secret compartment
00:53:27
beneath
00:53:28
the oven but chand knew what she was
00:53:31
doing
00:53:31
and had managed to sneak one away about
00:53:34
a week earlier
00:53:37
he'd woken up at 6 30 a.m that morning
00:53:40
knowing that it was the day he was
00:53:43
heading back to court in two days time
00:53:45
so christy probably thought she was safe
00:53:49
as chant remarked to the detective
00:53:53
when you've got nothing to lose nothing
00:53:55
to gain
00:53:57
it becomes completely viable to kill
00:53:59
someone
00:54:02
he got out of bed and brushed his hair
00:54:05
which he didn't usually bother to do
00:54:07
then he went to his closet where he'd
00:54:09
stashed a bag
00:54:11
containing the stolen knife
00:54:14
tsuchita had already left for the day
00:54:16
but his sister was in bed asleep
00:54:19
so chand made sure to leave quietly
00:54:23
as he began walking towards christy's
00:54:25
house
00:54:26
he put his headphones on and repeatedly
00:54:28
listened to
00:54:29
up on the ladder by radio head on his
00:54:32
ipod
00:54:34
in one interpretation of the song's
00:54:36
lyrics they detail
00:54:38
the emotional torment and frustration of
00:54:40
a man who seeks an answer from the woman
00:54:42
he loves
00:54:43
as to where their relationship is
00:54:45
heading
00:54:47
however chant understood it he felt the
00:54:50
song had been written especially for
00:54:52
and about him
00:54:56
chand detailed how he'd reached the
00:54:58
marco residence in mere minutes
00:55:00
then forced his way past tracy
00:55:04
he'd chased christy through the house
00:55:06
and out into the garden
00:55:08
she had been attempting to unlatch a
00:55:10
gate and escape
00:55:11
when he caught up to her
00:55:15
he stabbed her until his knife became
00:55:17
twisted and unusable
00:55:20
then stood back and watched as tracy ran
00:55:22
out and cradled her dying daughter
00:55:25
[Music]
00:55:27
chand felt absolutely no guilt or
00:55:29
remorse about
00:55:30
taking christie's life as he explained
00:55:34
to detectives
00:55:35
she deserved to die because she let me
00:55:39
down
00:55:42
police charged akshay chand with murder
00:55:46
he then warned that he had a female
00:55:48
accomplice
00:55:49
and even if he was locked up his
00:55:51
collaborator
00:55:52
would continue to kill
00:55:57
the police again prepared paperwork to
00:56:00
prevent chant receiving bail
00:56:02
but this time he didn't even apply for
00:56:04
it
00:56:06
two days later tracy marso went to north
00:56:09
shore police station to provide a
00:56:11
statement
00:56:13
the only way she was able to function
00:56:15
was by taking medication
00:56:16
but the interview was still extremely
00:56:19
difficult
00:56:21
tracy was battling guilt for having
00:56:23
opened the door to her daughter's killer
00:56:26
not realising it was chant standing
00:56:28
before her
00:56:29
until it was too late she wished she had
00:56:32
fought him off
00:56:33
rather than calling the police she was
00:56:36
tormented by the thought of how scared
00:56:38
christie was in her final moments
00:56:43
all i can see all i will ever see
00:56:46
is my daughter lying on my lap gasping
00:56:49
covered in blood and just dying for some
00:56:52
pointless reason
00:56:53
tracy told the officers
00:56:57
he just stood there and watched it he
00:56:59
didn't even try to get away
00:57:02
what sort of person is that
00:57:09
after christy was kidnapped by chand in
00:57:11
september
00:57:12
she'd spoken to a close friend about
00:57:14
what sort of funeral she would like
00:57:16
if she died unexpectedly
00:57:20
christy envisaged a celebration that
00:57:22
would reflect who she was
00:57:24
and where people could have fun
00:57:26
[Music]
00:57:28
her family selected a bright
00:57:30
turquoise-colored casket
00:57:32
as the color was christy's favorite
00:57:35
they and her friends wrote messages of
00:57:38
love on it christy's boyfriend
00:57:41
helped choose the clothes she would be
00:57:43
dressed in
00:57:45
she was laid to rest on saturday
00:57:47
november 12
00:57:49
five days after her death hundreds of
00:57:52
mourners attended
00:57:54
with many having to stand outside in the
00:57:56
chapel's car park
00:57:58
due to a lack of space
00:58:02
a photo slideshow of christy set to
00:58:04
music
00:58:05
screened for 10 minutes
00:58:08
in a book titled christy that tracy
00:58:11
later co-authored about her daughter
00:58:13
she wrote we had lots of crazy photos
00:58:18
that reflected christy's passion for
00:58:20
life
00:58:21
and it was nice to hear people giggle
00:58:23
when they saw some of them
00:58:25
christy would have really liked that
00:58:28
[Music]
00:58:31
investigators responsible for christie's
00:58:33
case were confident that akshay chand
00:58:36
would be convicted of her murder
00:58:38
as well as the earlier charges relating
00:58:40
to her kidnapping and assault
00:58:43
he had confessed to both crimes and
00:58:45
offered detailed accounts of how he had
00:58:48
carried them out
00:58:50
a trial was scheduled for october the
00:58:52
following year
00:58:54
and initially it seemed as though chant
00:58:56
would be pleading not guilty to all four
00:58:58
charges
00:59:00
but what looked like an open and shut
00:59:02
case took a drastic turn
00:59:05
when news broke that chant was changing
00:59:07
his play
00:59:09
he was now pleading not guilty by reason
00:59:12
of insanity
00:59:16
chant had been examined by mental health
00:59:18
experts multiple times since he first
00:59:20
attacked christie
00:59:23
in those meetings he had admitted to
00:59:25
feelings of depression
00:59:26
and hopelessness but firmly denied ever
00:59:29
experiencing psychotic symptoms
00:59:32
such as seeing hallucinations or hearing
00:59:34
voices
00:59:37
following his killing of christie chan's
00:59:40
lawyer
00:59:40
had her client assessed by one of the
00:59:43
country's leading forensic psychiatrists
00:59:45
dr david chaplow while dr chaplow was
00:59:50
interviewing
00:59:50
chant he shared a detail that he hadn't
00:59:53
mentioned before
00:59:56
in january 2011 chand had started
01:00:00
hearing a female sounding voice in his
01:00:03
head
01:00:04
sometimes it sounded like humming and
01:00:06
singing
01:00:07
but other times the voice spoke words to
01:00:10
him
01:00:11
it was clearer in the morning than the
01:00:14
evening
01:00:15
chand first came to know the voice as
01:00:18
lorelai
01:00:19
though he later realised that it
01:00:21
actually belonged to a girl who had gone
01:00:23
to school with in wales
01:00:26
she was eight years old and her name was
01:00:29
pauline
01:00:32
according to chand pauline was the one
01:00:34
who'd told him he had to kill
01:00:36
christie marso she'd said that christy
01:00:41
was possessed by
01:00:42
the devil in the days leading up to
01:00:45
christy's death
01:00:46
pauline's voice became particularly
01:00:49
insistent
01:00:51
he tried to resist her instructions but
01:00:53
eventually
01:00:54
came to believe he had to obey her
01:00:58
she also started telling chand that he
01:01:01
had to kill
01:01:02
two other people one of whom was tracy
01:01:05
marso
01:01:07
he hadn't told anyone else about the
01:01:09
voice in his head
01:01:10
especially not the police as he believed
01:01:14
they were out to get him
01:01:17
dr chaplow interviewed chand a second
01:01:20
time
01:01:21
after he'd started taking an
01:01:22
anti-psychotic medication
01:01:26
this time he told the doctor i don't
01:01:29
hear the voices anymore
01:01:33
chand had never demonstrated any remorse
01:01:36
for killing christie
01:01:37
but now he acknowledged that living the
01:01:40
rest of his life
01:01:41
knowing what he'd done to her would be
01:01:43
one of his biggest challenges
01:01:48
[Music]
01:01:50
dr chaplow considered the possibility
01:01:52
that chand could be faking his symptoms
01:01:55
in an attempt to get away with murder
01:01:58
chand was capable of manipulation as
01:02:01
evident in his past actions to receive
01:02:04
bail but the more he interviewed chant
01:02:07
the more convinced dr chaplain was that
01:02:10
he was telling the truth
01:02:13
if anything dr chaplow suspected
01:02:16
chand had been lying in the immediate
01:02:18
aftermath of killing christie
01:02:21
he'd claimed to be a cold-hearted
01:02:23
murderer
01:02:24
while hiding that he'd been acting on
01:02:26
behalf of a voice
01:02:28
that he felt spiritually obligated to
01:02:32
obey
01:02:34
the various symptoms chant had been
01:02:36
exhibiting for years
01:02:37
like his trouble sleeping lack of
01:02:40
motivation
01:02:40
social withdrawal and fluctuating weight
01:02:44
were originally seen as symptoms of
01:02:46
depression
01:02:48
however they could also be symptoms of
01:02:50
schizophrenia
01:02:52
which dr chaplain believed chant had
01:02:56
schizophrenia is a psychiatric illness
01:02:59
that typically begins during young
01:03:01
adulthood
01:03:02
and can cause delusions and
01:03:03
hallucinations
01:03:06
dr chaplain also noted that individuals
01:03:09
with schizophrenia
01:03:11
often experience depression as well
01:03:14
once the depression is treated with
01:03:16
medication the schizophrenic symptoms
01:03:19
tend to be exposed
01:03:22
dr chaplow concluded that when chand
01:03:25
killed christy
01:03:27
he was psychotic and completely unaware
01:03:29
that he was experiencing
01:03:31
auditory hallucinations
01:03:34
though he knew what he was doing when he
01:03:36
killed christy
01:03:38
the nature of his illness meant he
01:03:40
didn't understand
01:03:41
that his actions were morally wrong
01:03:46
dr chaplow also believed that chant
01:03:49
hadn't been psychotic during the first
01:03:51
attack
01:03:53
he thought it was notable that chand had
01:03:55
changed his mind about raping christy
01:03:58
and let her go it was likely that his
01:04:02
illness was at an earlier stage then
01:04:04
and hadn't interfered so severely with
01:04:07
his sense of right and wrong
01:04:14
chan's attorney sent dr chaplain's
01:04:16
report on to the prosecution
01:04:18
who weren't concerned it wasn't
01:04:21
surprising that the defense would take
01:04:23
this kind of approach
01:04:25
they had their own expert assess chand
01:04:28
as well
01:04:28
and selected the equally renowned
01:04:30
psychiatrist professor graham melsop
01:04:34
his role was to be more skeptical to
01:04:37
make sure
01:04:37
chand wasn't faking his symptoms
01:04:42
professor melsop examined reports and
01:04:45
other material from the two separate
01:04:47
attacks against christie marso
01:04:50
he noticed that at the time of the
01:04:52
september assault
01:04:54
akshay chant had been very clear about
01:04:56
how and why
01:04:57
he kidnapped christy nothing he
01:05:00
mentioned
01:05:01
suggested he was experiencing a
01:05:03
psychotic episode
01:05:06
but when he spoke to detectives after
01:05:08
killing christy
01:05:10
he mentioned a female accomplice who
01:05:12
would kill again
01:05:14
he hadn't elaborated on this at the time
01:05:17
but he was referring to pauline
01:05:19
the voice in his head
01:05:23
professor melsap interviewed chant he
01:05:26
told the professor the same things that
01:05:28
he told
01:05:29
dr chaplow melsop noticed that chand
01:05:33
sometimes made up words or used existing
01:05:36
ones in strange ways
01:05:38
as though he had his own personal
01:05:40
definitions for them
01:05:43
he also made note of chan's extremely
01:05:46
flat effect statements from people
01:05:50
who knew chant indicated his thinking
01:05:52
had been disordered for some time
01:05:55
he'd been obsessively fixated on
01:05:57
capitalism
01:05:58
told various people he was suffering
01:06:00
from cervical cancer
01:06:02
despite being male and his conversation
01:06:05
was described as sometimes being
01:06:07
weird and out of place
01:06:10
all of these were symptoms that were
01:06:12
again consistent with schizophrenia
01:06:16
it was noted that chan's father had
01:06:19
battled severe depression as well
01:06:21
there was also a history of mental
01:06:23
illness including schizophrenia
01:06:26
on his side of the family
01:06:29
professor melsop came to the same
01:06:31
conclusion that dr
01:06:33
chaplain had when akshay chand had gone
01:06:37
to christie's house to kill her
01:06:39
he had been legally insane
01:06:45
this was not what the prosecution had
01:06:47
wanted to hear
01:06:49
a third and final psychiatrist was
01:06:51
consulted just in case
01:06:53
but came back with the exact same
01:06:56
finding as the others
01:06:58
with their own experts agreeing that
01:07:00
chand could not be held
01:07:02
legally responsible for christie's
01:07:04
murder there was no way they could go to
01:07:06
trial
01:07:08
crown solicitor simon moore had the
01:07:10
difficult task of notifying the massos
01:07:15
in the months after christy's death
01:07:17
tracy had decided to proceed with her
01:07:19
move to adelaide
01:07:21
a move she'd planned to make with her
01:07:23
daughter
01:07:26
there were simply too many painful
01:07:28
reminders of christy at home
01:07:31
simon moore flew from auckland to
01:07:33
adelaide so he could notify tracy and
01:07:36
brian in person
01:07:39
the couple were devastated to hear that
01:07:41
chant would
01:07:42
not be going to trial for killing their
01:07:44
daughter
01:07:47
they found it incredibly difficult to
01:07:49
believe that chand had been
01:07:51
insane at the time tracy had seen him
01:07:54
herself he'd appeared
01:07:56
cold and rational and was able to follow
01:07:59
through
01:08:00
with a carefully organized plan
01:08:04
it wasn't until they met with professor
01:08:06
graham melsop in person
01:08:08
that they began to accept the findings
01:08:12
he explained that it was possible for an
01:08:15
individual to carry out pre-planned
01:08:17
actions
01:08:18
while still suffering from a disease
01:08:20
that impacted their moral understanding
01:08:24
yet even though the couple came to
01:08:26
understand
01:08:27
where the experts were coming from they
01:08:30
struggled to agree with them
01:08:36
on september 27 2012
01:08:40
akshay chand pleaded guilty to the
01:08:42
charges of kidnapping
01:08:44
assault with intent to commit sexual
01:08:46
violation
01:08:47
and threatening to do grievous bodily
01:08:49
harm
01:08:51
a month later he was back in auckland's
01:08:54
high court
01:08:54
for his insanity hearing
01:08:59
the experts who had assessed chant
01:09:01
agreed that he should be detained
01:09:03
indefinitely
01:09:04
as a special patient because he'd been
01:09:08
able to carry out a brutal killing
01:09:10
and had mentioned wanting to harm others
01:09:13
they believed he posed a real danger to
01:09:15
public safety
01:09:17
his chances of recovery were considered
01:09:20
low
01:09:21
due in part to his young age at the
01:09:23
onset of his disease
01:09:28
justice helen winkelmann ruled that a
01:09:30
special patient order would be made for
01:09:32
akshay chant
01:09:35
he would be detained indefinitely at the
01:09:37
mason clinic
01:09:38
a secure unit in auckland that provides
01:09:41
forensic mental health services
01:09:44
the only way he will ever be released is
01:09:47
if he's found to no longer be a danger
01:09:49
to the public
01:09:51
an extremely unlikely possibility
01:09:56
justice winkelmann also handed down a
01:09:59
sentence for the charges relating to
01:10:01
chan's first
01:10:02
assault against christie
01:10:05
because christy wasn't able to share her
01:10:07
story for herself
01:10:08
her parents had passed along her diary
01:10:11
to justice winkleman
01:10:14
tracy and brian had never read it
01:10:16
themselves
01:10:17
but they knew christy had started
01:10:18
keeping it after the attack
01:10:20
as a way to process her ordeal
01:10:24
justice wink hellman spoke of the
01:10:26
insight the diary had offered into
01:10:28
christie's state of mind
01:10:30
telling chant following that kidnapping
01:10:35
it is clear she continued to be afraid
01:10:37
of you
01:10:38
she was frightened that you would return
01:10:40
to harm her family
01:10:42
and that fear only increased on your
01:10:45
release
01:10:47
her journal also makes clear that she
01:10:49
regarded her life as having been
01:10:51
fundamentally changed
01:10:53
by what you did to her justice winkleman
01:10:59
then sentenced
01:11:00
chand to three years for kidnapping two
01:11:03
years for assault with intent to
01:11:05
sexually violate
01:11:06
and one year for threatening to do
01:11:08
grievous bodily harm
01:11:11
he would also serve these years at the
01:11:13
mason clinic
01:11:17
outside the courthouse tracy and brian
01:11:19
marso
01:11:20
addressed the media brian fought back
01:11:24
tears
01:11:24
as he said for us
01:11:28
no sentence will ever be sufficient for
01:11:30
the loss of christy
01:11:32
it will never bring her back or even
01:11:35
make us feel
01:11:36
that justice has actually been done
01:11:39
for us he will always be christie's
01:11:42
murderer
01:11:43
and in our eyes he will always be guilty
01:11:47
[Music]
01:11:52
as well as viewing chant as christie's
01:11:54
murderer
01:11:55
damasos couldn't help but blame someone
01:11:57
else for their daughter's death
01:12:01
they couldn't comprehend why judge david
01:12:04
mcnaughton had approved
01:12:05
chan's bail application against the
01:12:08
wishes of the police
01:12:09
their family and christy herself
01:12:13
if chant had been kept in custody
01:12:15
following his first
01:12:16
violent assault then he never would have
01:12:18
been able to harm christie again
01:12:22
much of the new zealand public shared
01:12:25
their concerns
01:12:27
news articles honed in on the fact that
01:12:29
chand had been bailed to a residence
01:12:32
just
01:12:32
350 metres from christie's home
01:12:35
despite saying he wanted revenge against
01:12:38
her
01:12:40
an organization called the sensible
01:12:42
sentencing trust
01:12:44
got in touch with the marco family and
01:12:46
helped them campaign to have bail laws
01:12:49
amended
01:12:51
this led to the bail amendment act being
01:12:53
passed into new zealand law in 2013.
01:12:58
this new act put the onus on defendants
01:13:01
to prove
01:13:01
they weren't a threat to the community
01:13:03
rather than having the police
01:13:05
argue the opposite
01:13:11
in june 2017 almost six years after
01:13:15
akshay chand killed christie marso
01:13:18
an inquest was held into her death to
01:13:20
explore the circumstances that resulted
01:13:23
in chant being granted bail
01:13:26
judge david mcnaughton who has never
01:13:29
spoken publicly about his decision
01:13:31
did not appear as a witness this was due
01:13:35
to new zealand law preventing judges
01:13:38
from being called to give evidence
01:13:42
the inquest took place over 13 days
01:13:46
the coroner handed down a 127 page
01:13:49
report in march of the following year
01:13:53
she found that christy was let down by
01:13:55
multiple
01:13:56
systemic failures and a lack of
01:13:58
collaboration between
01:14:00
various departments and agencies
01:14:04
judge barbara morris the first the judge
01:14:06
to hear
01:14:07
chan's bail application had requested
01:14:10
that an electronic monitoring assessment
01:14:12
be completed for chant
01:14:14
this involves a suspect being fitted
01:14:17
with a gps monitor
01:14:18
so their whereabouts are tracked at all
01:14:21
times
01:14:22
but neither the police prosecutors nor
01:14:25
the defense
01:14:26
followed up on this request
01:14:30
judge morris had denied bail partially
01:14:33
because of how close
01:14:34
chance home was to christie's but
01:14:37
judge david mcnaughton had not been told
01:14:40
how close the two addresses
01:14:42
were to each other the police prosecutor
01:14:46
who attended
01:14:47
chan's second bail hearing had that
01:14:49
information
01:14:50
but did not share it with the judge
01:14:52
because she felt he was uninterested in
01:14:54
police concerns
01:14:56
and didn't give her an opportunity to
01:14:58
speak
01:15:00
from her point of view he had already
01:15:02
made his mind up in favour of granting
01:15:04
bail
01:15:07
judge mcnaughton was also under the
01:15:09
impression that chan's mother
01:15:11
suchita his sister or his aunt would
01:15:14
stay with him at all times
01:15:17
chan's lawyer had mistakenly identified
01:15:20
his sister as a university student
01:15:23
when she was actually a juvenile who was
01:15:25
still at school
01:15:26
too young to take on such a role
01:15:30
judge mcnaughton didn't know that
01:15:32
suchita had consistent work commitments
01:15:35
and that his aunt needed to be at home
01:15:38
with her own child
01:15:39
before school hours chan's family said
01:15:44
that they had not been told that
01:15:46
constant supervision was expected of
01:15:48
them
01:15:50
the coroner also found that chan's
01:15:53
initial mental health reviews had been
01:15:55
rashed
01:15:55
and failed to provide a proper risk
01:15:58
assessment
01:16:00
in total she gave 10 recommendations to
01:16:03
the ministry of justice
01:16:05
department of corrections the police and
01:16:08
waitamata district health board
01:16:10
in the hopes of preventing a similar
01:16:12
tragedy in the future
01:16:18
tracy and brian marceau welcomed the
01:16:20
coroner's findings
01:16:22
and said the inquest had revealed to
01:16:24
them how christy had been
01:16:25
failed in multiple ways in an interview
01:16:29
with analisk of the new zealand herald
01:16:32
tracy said there was more than one hand
01:16:36
on the knife that day
01:16:38
we're extremely grateful that the
01:16:40
coroner's taken this so
01:16:42
seriously finally someone's on christy's
01:16:46
side
01:16:48
in a letter she wrote to christy one
01:16:51
year after her death
01:16:52
tracy revealed that she cried herself to
01:16:55
sleep
01:16:55
most nights thinking that she had failed
01:16:58
her daughter
01:17:01
christy's father brian has also grappled
01:17:03
with guilt
01:17:04
due to being overseas when his daughter
01:17:07
was first kidnapped
01:17:08
and later killed he had considered
01:17:11
leaving his job in australia
01:17:13
but police had reassured him that
01:17:15
christy would be safe
01:17:17
and his family needed the income
01:17:22
in november 2012 the massos set up a
01:17:26
legacy in their daughter's name
01:17:28
the christie marso charitable trust
01:17:32
through fundraising and donations the
01:17:34
trust provides annual scholarships for
01:17:37
teenagers to attend a course
01:17:39
through outward bound christy had
01:17:42
dreamed of completing
01:17:44
one of the organization's outdoor
01:17:46
challenge courses
01:17:47
but never had the chance to do so
01:17:52
tracy brian and christy's sister heather
01:17:55
have all gotten matching tattoos of
01:17:57
christy
01:17:58
on their shoulders as they told a
01:18:00
journalist to analyse
01:18:02
these symbolise how christie is always
01:18:05
watching their backs
01:18:08
annelisk first interviewed the marcos
01:18:10
just a few months after christy's death
01:18:13
and formed a strong friendship with them
01:18:15
over the following year
01:18:18
she later collaborated with tracy on a
01:18:21
book titled christy
01:18:23
a family's tragic loss and a mother's
01:18:25
fight for justice
01:18:28
for tracy the book was a way to
01:18:30
immortalize her daughter
01:18:32
and tell her story
01:18:35
tracy's portion of the book concludes
01:18:37
with a letter
01:18:38
addressed to christy that ends with the
01:18:41
words
01:18:43
the only way i can try to make sense of
01:18:46
it is to believe
01:18:47
that you were a special person only lent
01:18:50
to earth for a short time
01:18:52
to make change and spread good
01:18:55
as much as it is agony that we lost you
01:18:58
so soon
01:18:59
i am so glad we were chosen to be your
01:19:01
parents
01:19:02
because you brought so much joy to us
01:19:05
and i learnt so much from your beautiful
01:19:07
kindness
01:19:09
i will love you to the end of time and i
01:19:12
will use the rest of my time
01:19:14
to continue helping people in your name
01:19:18
i know you will be proud of that
01:19:30
[Music]
01:19:48
you