Police cleared of coercing confession
Police have been cleared of coercing a confession from a Dunedin woman who admitted trying to kill an elderly nursing home resident 16 years ago.
Joyce Conwell was convicted of attempted murder of elderly woman Doreen Middlemiss in her rest home bed in June 1998, and the murder of Alec Rodgers in Christchurch in September 1999.
The initial police investigation concluded Mrs Middlemiss died of heart failure despite the discovery on her bed of a screwdriver, torch and bizarre note stating "Robert keep out or I'll chop off your fingers".
However, the investigation was reopened 18 months later following the death of Mr Rodgers, the partner of a woman who worked at the rest home where Mrs Middlemiss died.
Police soon linked both cases to Conwell, who had worked at the nursing home and knew both Mrs Middlemiss and Mr Rodgers' partner.
Conwell confessed to the crimes by way of incriminating notes that she handed to police.
One read "I killed Doreen and was a party to Alec's death", while another was even more detailed.
"I hid in Doreen's wardrobe and waited for her to go to sleep, then I went over and put my hand over Doreen's mouth. Doreen must have got the bruising ... on her arms when I was trying to stop them from thrashing around."
Despite the graphic admissions, Conwell has long claimed she was coerced to confess, a claim that was lodged formally by her sister Denise Lane in 2011.
But a report released on Tuesday by the Independent Police Conduct Authority cleared the police of any wrongdoing.
Authority chairman Judge Sir David Carruthers said the investigation found that while some aspects of the police work were "undesirable", there is "no evidence to support the complaint" that the confession was coerced.
He said Ms Lane wanted the case reopened, a request that went beyond the IPCA's scope and authority.
