A former New Zealand police officer who murdered his wife and attempted to kill her new lover on Anzac Day will spend at least 17 years behind bars.
Ben McLean pleaded guilty to the ‘pre-meditated and calculated’ shooting of his wife of 18 years and was sentenced for the ‘horrendous’ crime on Monday.
The 48-year-old shot Verity McLean in the head three weeks after she left him for his friend, Garry Duggan, who he also tried to kill in the Invercargill suburb of Newfield.
Former New Zealand police officer Ben McLean (right) was sentenced on Monday to a minimum of 17 years behind bars for murdering his wife Verity McLean (left) on Anzac Day
Mclean offered an apology for his heinous crime in the High Court.
‘The real victims of this death are my three children. The two most important adults in their lives are now gone,’ McLean said.
‘Bert (Verity) was the love of my life who broke my heart and my soul, and I will live with regret and the torment for having been involved in her death for the rest of my life.’
The court heard Ms McLean had moved out of the family home and into Duggan’s flat three weeks before being killed.
Crown prosecutor Riki Donnelly said the crime was intricately planned with a high level of callousness and sought a 17-year minimum non-parole period.
Defence counsel said it was likely Mclean would be in solitary confinement for another 18 months because of his role in the police force.
Justice Rachel Dunningham said the extent of the victims’ injuries and the horrendous effect they had on respective families warranted life imprisonment.
The 48-year-old shot Verity McLean in the head three weeks after she left him for his friend, Garry Duggan (pictured), who he also tried to kill in the Invercargill suburb of Newfield
Mclean shot his wife under the chin with a sawn off .22 rifle, the awaited for Duggan – his friend of 15 years – to return.
On his arrival home, about 8pm, Mclean shot him in the upper chest and forearm, but Duggan was able to wrestle his way free.
After a violent struggle, which involved the use of a wooden baton, the pair reached a stalemate and sat arguing.
Duggan then called police and Mclean handed himself into the same station where he worked, about 40 minutes after the shooting.
The victim, who suffers post traumatic stress disorder, was unforgiving and saw no contrition to the man he’d known 15 years.
‘If I’d been a physically weaker man, there would be no one here to tell you what an evil bastard he really is,’ he told the court.
‘I do resent having my life stolen by this man and do not believe he has any remorse. . . he regards his actions as being caused by others rather than accepting any responsibility himself.’
Mclean described his wife (pictured) as ‘the love of my life who broke my heart and my soul’ in court and apologised to his three children
An investigation found Mclean had packed blue disposable rubber gloves, a bottle of hand sanitiser, plastic handcuffs (the same type the Armed Offenders Squad uses), strips of towel and a portable radio tuned to the Invercargill police channel.
Strips of towel later found in McLean’s bag were bloodstained and covered in saliva, according to a summary of facts, and inside a fireplace were burned remains consistent with plastic handcuffs.
Evidence revealed after his wife broke into the Scott Street home they previously shared on Anzac Day, Mclean packed a bag cycled to her new abode.
The bag contained the cut-down rifle to which a silencer had been fixed with black insulation tape.