escalating violence in our community Become a member of the Sensible Sentencing Trust

Mouseover links for full page descriptions

Offender Databases Paul Wood

Paul Quentin Wood

Alias

.

Offences

Murder of Boyd Bevan with a baseball bat in Karori, Wellington on New Years Eve 1995

Victims

Boyd William Bevan

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1978

Current Location

At large

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to life imprisonment in October 1996
Paroled October 2006

Background
From an Evening Post article 22/04/1997
A 19-year-old Wellington man's appeal against his murder conviction for alleged dissent among the jury, has been dismissed. Justice Heron ruled in the Court of Appeal today that the procedure followed by the trial judge in a jury poll had been correct. The jury was given ample opportunity to show dissent. Paul Quentin Wood had pleaded not guilty to murdering his drug supplier Boyd Bevan, 42, at Karori on December 31, 1995. Mr Bevan's bashed body was found in Wood's bathroom.

Alleged dissent was the reason Wood appealed his conviction. In the Court of Appeal yesterday, defence counsel Bill Johnson said the atmosphere had been highly charged at the end of the trial and Justice McGechan agreed to a poll of the jury. When the judge asked if any jurors disagreed with the verdict, a juror began to put up her hand and then put it down. Mr Johnson said he rose to point out the dissenting juror, but the judge told him to sit down.

He said no human being could "smash a baseball bat into the skull of another human being and then strangle them", without meaning to kill them. Pathologist Clinton Teague said Mr Bevan's heart was still beating when he was strangled, but by then he had already sustained lethal brain damage. Defence lawyer Bill Johnson said Mr Bevan was an "old-time villain" who was known to police. A homosexual, drug dealer, and a dealer in stolen property, he was known to associate with young men about Wood's age.

From a Dominion article 25/09/1996
Crown prosecutor Grant Burston told the court Mr Bevan died after being strangled with a rope and suffering at least eight blows to the head with a baseball bat. Wood and his girlfriend, Tracey Hill, had a drug habit that cost them "hundreds" each day, he said. On the night of the killing, Mr Bevan went to the couple's flat in Karori and sold them tablets of morphine sulphate. The couple had the drugs but then said they had no money to pay for them. A tablet of morphine sulphate costs between $200 and $400, the court was told. Mr Burston said an argument developed which resulted in Mr Bevan suggesting that instead of money, Wood and his girlfriend have sex while he watched.

Wood considered the suggestion but his girlfriend was not keen on the idea. Her response was to get a baseball bat from under a bed. Wood told Mr Bevan to leave, and when he refused to do so without payment, Wood attacked him. Mr Burston said the killing was "sordid and vicious". Wood had broken the bat over Mr Bevan's head with enough force to split the bat in two, he said. Blood was spattered on the ceiling and over the front door. After the beating, Wood strangled Mr Bevan before moving him to a bathroom where he removed $900 and a gold ring from the dead man's body. Mr Burston said Wood failed to notice $5200 cash in the dead man's other pocket.

The case of Paul Wood initially appeared to be clear cut self defence, but having strong similarity to the David McNee who was killed by Phillip Layton Edwards where the victim had allegedly made sexual advantages . In this case after Mr Bevan was killed by Wood (who was addicted to morphine), like the David McNee case the offender in this case calmly stole the victim's personal items after being left for dead. Wood and his girlfriend had often got involved in dishonesty to support their drug habits. All the evidence shows this was intent to kill clearly knowing the force used was likely to cause death.

Parole Board decision documented here

---

Corrections and Additional Information
We endeavour to make this database as accurate as possible, but we are at the mercy of whatever information we can find in various online and offline archives. We rely on the public - that is, people like you - to fill in the gaps that we cannot. If you wish to submit additional information or a correction to this file CLICK HERE . Privacy: Trust policy is that all sources are treated as strictly confidential unless we are explicitly told otherwise. If you wish to see a file removed from this database certain conditions must be met by the offender set out HERE Note that this does NOT apply for those that are the primary offender in a murder, rape, or any sexual offending involving minors. We do not enter into correspondence regarding the guilt/innocence of offenders. Such correspondence is not responded to, especially if the offender concerned has a number of prior convictions

Back to Top