New Zealand

Mark Lundy to appeal conviction

16:29 pm on 28 April 2015

Mark Lundy will appeal his conviction and sentence for the murders of his wife and daughter, his lawyer says.

Mark Lundy Photo: RNZ

Lundy was found guilty on 1 April of murdering Christine, 38, and seven-year-old Amber Lundy, whose bodies were found bludgeoned to death in their Palmerston North home on 30 August 2000.

The nearly eight-week trial in the High Court at Wellington was Lundy's second; he was also convicted of the murders in 2002 but the Privy Council overturned his conviction in 2013 and ordered a retrial.

Justice France reinstated Lundy's life sentence, with a 20-year non-parole period, immediately upon the jury's guilty verdict earlier this month.

Lawyer Julie-Anne Kincade today said she would lodge an appeal with the Court of Appeal against Lundy's sentence and conviction.

"It is not appropriate to rehearse in any detail in a public forum the grounds of the appeal but it can be said that the issues raised will include a consideration of the mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) evidence," she said.