Pauline Parker, Notorious Murderer in 'Heavenly Creatures' Case, Dies at 88

Hilary Nathan, formerly known as Pauline Parker, one of the two teenagers who committed a notorious murder in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1954, has died at the age of 88. Nathan passed away earlier this month on the Orkney island of South Ronaldsay in Scotland, her death registered with minimal public notice. She had lived in seclusion in recent decades, a stark contrast to the intense media attention that followed the crime and the subsequent 1994 film "Heavenly Creatures."

Parker and her close friend Juliet Hulme, both teenagers at the time, murdered Parker's mother, Honorah, using half a brick wrapped in a stocking. The crime shocked New Zealand and garnered widespread media coverage, with headlines sensationalizing the young girls' actions. At their trial in August 1954, both were convicted of murder. Due to their age, they were spared the death penalty and served five-and-a-half years in separate prisons before their release.

Upon their release, both women left New Zealand for the United Kingdom and adopted new identities. Juliet Hulme became Anne Perry, a highly successful crime novelist who wrote over 100 books. Parker, who adopted the name Hilary Nathan, sought complete anonymity and became a horse-riding instructor.

The 1994 film "Heavenly Creatures," directed by Peter Jackson, brought renewed attention to the case, dramatizing the murder and the intense friendship between Hulme and Parker. The film, which starred Kate Winslet as Juliet in her first significant screen role, led journalists to uncover the women's new identities, sparking a media frenzy. While Perry eventually spoke publicly about her past, Nathan was reportedly distressed by the intrusion and actively avoided the press, even denying her identity to reporters.

Following the exposure of her identity in 1997, Nathan sold her home and moved to the Orkney islands. The motive for the murder has been a subject of intense speculation. The girls' diaries, particularly Parker's, revealed detailed plans and a shared fantasy world they called the 'Fourth World.' Their obsessive friendship, fueled by shared experiences of childhood illness and a feeling of being misunderstood geniuses, intensified when they faced separation. Parker's diary entries indicated growing resentment towards her mother as an obstacle to their plans.

On June 22, 1954, the day Parker's mother was murdered, the girls had taken Honorah to Victoria Park in Christchurch. Under the pretense of examining a dropped stone, they attacked her. The brutality of the assault, which involved multiple blows to the head and hands, contradicted their initial claim that Honorah had simply fallen. Medical experts at the trial suggested their actions might have stemmed from "folie a deux," a shared delusional state, but this defense was rejected.

Information about Honorah Parker herself is scarce. Born in Birmingham, England, she emigrated to New Zealand and had a long-term relationship with Herbert Rieper before his separation from his first wife. Pauline Parker was raised as a Rieper, and her true surname was only revealed after the murder.

Nathan's refusal to speak publicly throughout her life leaves many questions about her past and motivations unanswered. While some accounts suggest past relationships and concerns from justice officials regarding her "lesbian associates," her sister indicated that Nathan had become a recluse and a devout Roman Catholic. Her death marks the end of her deliberate withdrawal from public life and the permanent closure of her personal account of the events that transfixed many.