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Offender Databases Lon Reti

Lon Wilcox Reti

Alias

.

Offences

Murdered Christchurch man Leslie Edmonds in October 1997

Victims

Leslie Edmonds

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1969

Current Location

unknown

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to "life" imprisonment in July 1998
Eligible for parole October 2007

Background
From THE PRESS 2 July 1998
A Christchurch vagrant accused of murdering another itinerant and cutting off his ears has been found guilty of murder by a jury in the Christchurch High Court. Justice Young sentenced Lon Wilcox Reti, 29, to a mandatory term of life imprisonment yesterday. The victim, Leslie Allan Edmonds, was found stabbed to death in a Hereford Street house with his ears cut off and his throat half-cut. Reti had alleged Mr Edmonds made unwanted sexual advances.

Summing up, Crown counsel Chris McVeigh QC said the ``unusual and bizarre'' case was a straightforward one of the deliberate killing of Edmonds by the accused, and asked the jury to approach it as a simple case of murder. He said Reti was at least reckless as to whether death occurred in the attack. Reti's version of events could not be believed. Referring to an outburst from Reti from the witness stand on Tuesday in which he threw a box of tissues and shouted abuse, Mr McVeigh said Reti had ``lost it'' once things got a little hot for him in the witness box. Provocation should not be accepted as an excuse.

Reti had said he did not become angry until he saw Edmonds die. Self-defence had been raised as an excuse, but against what, asked Mr McVeigh. Defence counsel Mark Callaghan said Reti had been sniffing glue on the day. He did not have to give evidence in court, but had chosen to do so because he wanted the jury to know what happened. After the killing Reti had waited at the address for police to arrive and did nothing to avoid the situation. He had been sexually violated and indecently assaulted, he said, and had told Mr Edmonds to leave before the stabbing had occurred. Anyone would have been upset by the type of sexual advances, said Mr Callaghan.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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