Man beats to death his landlord and lover after she tries to evict him
Valerie Heaney’s body was discovered day later after accused reported it to police
A 43-year-old man on Tuesday pleaded guilty to beating his landlady and occasional lover to death with a hockey stick for sending him an eviction letter in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Valerie Heaney, 64, was isolating at her Bromley home due to Covid-19 when the accused, identified as Elliot Ajay Prakash, battered her to death on 3 April.
Heaney’s body was discovered in the hallway of her house a day later.
The woman, who had lived in the house for decades, was reportedly a carer at a service provider for people with intellectual disabilities. Heaney turned her home into a boarding house following her husband Gavin’s death nearly 13 years ago.
On 3 April, they were watching rugby on television when a heated argument began. She then wrote a letter asking Prakash to evacuate within a week and cited his “ongoing abuses and threats” toward her.
When he threw the letter away, she sat down to write another letter, in which she said that Prakash had told her: “I’ll see you end up in the ground with your daughter.”
Her daughter Natasha, who had Down’s syndrome, died in 2021.
Heaney was sitting at the dinner table around 5pm, when teh accused attacked her with a hockey stick, according to New Zealand-based news website Stuff.
She tried to escape but was dragged back into the hallway, where she eventually died.
On 4 April, Mr Prakash left for work at 6am. On returning home in the evening, he called the police and claimed that he returned to blood on the door.
When the police arrived, the accused denied killing Heaney, while describing her as a “very good, caring, loving person”.
Authorities initially treated her death as “unexplained” but upgraded it to a homicide inquiry following an autopsy.
Prakash was arrested and charged with murder shortly after. The accused was arraigned before the high court on Tuesday and will be sentenced on 9 September.