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Offender Database Alexander Paulin

Alexander Grant Paulin

Alias

.

Offences

Murdered Shona Claire Bruce in April 1998.
Also drink driving.

Victims

Shona Claire Bruce

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1949

Current Location

unknown

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to life imprisonment in October 1998.
Due for a parole hearing May 2008

Background
Otago Daily Times, October 1998 story here
49-year-old Alexander Grant Paulin, invalid beneficiary, had denied murdering Shona Claire Bruce in her Panmure Ave home on April 28. He acknowledged causing the death of Ms Bruce (42), by strangling her with a tea towel, but said he did not intend to kill. He said her continued verbal and emotional abuse provoked him into the attack which resulted in her death.

During a five-day trial, the jury of 10 women and two men heard evidence of Ms Bruce's alcoholism and her erratic and manipulative behaviour. They heard that Paulin moved out of her house two days before the killing but returned on April 28 to collect some property and went drinking with Ms Bruce.

When they came home in the evening, Ms Bruce began abusing him again, telling him he was worthless but that she still loved him. Paulin said he "flipped", picked up a tea towel and pulled it tight around her neck. When he realised she was dead, he removed a light bulb and tried unsuccessfully to electrocute himself. He then locked the house and drove to Oamaru, where he confessed.

Psychiatric evidence was that Paulin suffered from a schizotypal personality disorder characterised by severe social phobias. The jurors had to decide whether Paulin was guilty of murder or manslaughter. If they found he had the necessary murderous intent, they then had to consider provocation.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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