- Teresa Cormack
Infobox Person
name=Teresa Maida Cormack
caption=Teresa Cormack
birth_date=birth date|1981|6|18|mf=y
birth_place= Napier,New Zealand
death_date=death date and age|1987|6|19|1981|6|18|mf=y
death_place= Napier,New Zealand Teresa Maida Cormack (
June 18 ,1981 –June 19 ,1987 ) was a six-year-old murder victim fromNapier, New Zealand .Teresa's death
Teresa lived in
Napier, New Zealand , with her mother, Kelly Piggot, and a younger sister named Sara. [ [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2998265 Fond memories of the girl who became a sad symbol - 09 Oct 2002 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news ] ] Although reluctant to go to school on the day after her birthday, Cormack departed home on her normal walking route to Richmond Primary School, which was a short distance from where she lived. However, she did not go to school and instead wandered the streets in the suburb of Maraenui for around an hour.Eight days later, Cormack's body was discovered at the base of a tree on Whirinaki Beach, presumably having been dumped from the road, by a woman walking her dog. An autopsy revealed that she had been raped and suffocated.
Investigation
Three male
pubic hair s were found orally or in her underwear andsemen was found vaginally on Cormack's body. However,genetic fingerprinting at the time was not advanced enough to find her killer.Jules Mikus was questioned by police and provided samples of his saliva and blood. Mikus provided an alibi for the time the abduction was believed to have occurred. Afterwards, he was excluded as a suspect.The case was not closed until a conviction was made.
Breakthrough
Due to advances in genetic fingerprinting, a minute sample of semen stored sealed between two microscope slides was able to be profiled in 2001 by technicians at ESR (Environmental Science & Research, a Crown Research Institute owned wholly by the New Zealand government).
Despite having this profile, an arrest was not immediate. A public television broadcast by the detective in charge and seen by Mikus provoked a reaction in front of the people with whom he lived but they did not contact police. Eight-hundred and forty-five blood samples had been taken, of these, four were of insufficient quality to make a profile. After nearly a year of testing the blood (taking until Friday, 22 February 2002), only one blood profile matched the semen and it came from Mikus.
On
February 26 2002 , fifteen years after Cormack's death, police arrested Jules Pierre Nicholas Mikus for Cormack's murder. Although Mikus pleaded not guilty, a jury found him guilty for kidnapping, rape, sexual assault and murder.Aftermath
The case attracted widespread interest in New Zealand.
In 2004, Rowene Marsh-Potaka (who had campaigned to stop her brother from being paroled for murder) collaborated with Cormack's mother Kelly Piggot to write an anti-
parole song. They wanted the song to let people know that offenders such as Mikus should serve their full sentences. Piggot also has a daughter named Hannah. [ [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2998270 Justice for Teresa - 09 Oct 2002 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news ] ]Paul Rothwell's play "Golden Boys", which ran at
Circa Theatre in early 2006, was inspired by the Cormack case.References
External links
* [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3554573 A mother's lament for Teresa Cormack] March 13, 2004 Anne Beston
New Zealand Herald
* [http://www.crime.co.nz/c-files.asp?ID=24864 Advances in DNA testing bring Cormack Case to Court] Crime.co.nz
* [http://www.police.govt.nz/operation/cormack/?showoperations=1&rnk=1&qry=Teresa+Cormack? Teresa Cormack homicide, 19 June 1987]New Zealand Police website
* [http://www.geocities.com/jonbenet_1990/teresa.html In Memory Of Teresa Cormack] (In conjunction withJonBenét Ramsey memorial website)
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Cormack&GSfn=Teresa&GSmn=Maida&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=7836573& Find A Grave - Teresa Maida Cormack]
* [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2998265 Fond memories of the girl who became a sad symbol]
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