The murder of Murder of Nia Glassie
Abuse and death
Nia was subject to extensive physical abuse for weeks, possibly even months, before being admitted to hospital and dying of brain injuries on 3 August 2007. The court concluded that in addition to having had chunks of wood dropped on her and wrestling moves copied from a computer game practised on her, she had been kicked, beaten, slapped, jumped on, held over a burning fire, spat on, placed into a clothes dryer spinning at top heat for up to 30 minutes, folded into a sofa and sat on, shoved into piles of rubbish, dragged through a sandpit half-naked, flung against a wall, dropped from a height onto the floor, and whirled rapidly on an outdoor rotary clothes line until thrown off.
At the time, her mother, 34-year-old Lisa Michelle Kuka, told the hospital her injuries were the result of her falling off her partner's (then 17-year-old Wiremu Te Aroha Te Whanau Curtis) shoulders. It later emerged that her central North Island family, which was celebrating a 21st birthday, waited 36 hours after the toddler lapsed into a coma on the floor before taking her to the hospital. Lisa was seen in clubs during her daughter's hospitalization.During the trial, a doctor told the court that if the little girl had been taken to hospital as soon as she was unconscious, she would have likely survived.
Trial
After a four-week-long trial ending in November 2008, Nia's mother, Lisa Michelle Kuka, 35, was found guilty of two counts of manslaughter: one for failing to obtain medical treatment for the toddler before her death in August 2007, and one for failing to protect her. Kuka's partner Wiremu Curtis, 19, and his brother Michael, 22, were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Nia's cousin Michael Pearson, 20, and Michael Curtis's partner Oriwa Kemp, 18, were found not guilty on manslaughter charges but were convicted of child cruelty. The presiding judge, Judith Potter, openly wept as she delivered the sentences and after thanking equally affected shaken jurors for coping with the case went so far as to offer them counselling.
William Curtis, the father of the Curtis brothers, also faced charges for the alleged abuse of Nia concerning an earlier alleged incident but as of November 2008 no trial date had been set for him.
