Monica Rosemary Cantwell

British backpacker Monica grew up in the Surrey village of Lingfield. A week into a short visit to New Zealand she was attacked just below the summit Mauao (Mount Maunganui) on 20 November 1989. The murderer dragged Monica into bushes and strangled her as he raped her, leaving her lying semi-naked about 50 metres from the track. Police found her three days later after friends reported her missing. Nine days earlier 20 year old Auckland storeman Charles John Coulam had broken into the Remuera flat of an Auckland woman and attempted to rape her. The Mauao attack was planned in advance, the victim selected at random. Before travelling down to Mount Maunganui, Coulam told flatmates he had been fantasising about strangling a woman as he raped her. When he arrived home after being away for a week and boasted about being responsible for Monica's death, his flatmates called the police. Sentenced to "life imprisonment" in December 1989. Monica is remembered in a memorial plaque on Mauao. Bay of Plenty Times (4 March 2013). Coulam was denied parole in 2016. Bay of Plenty Times (21 September 2016). Source: © Debbie McCauley https://debbiemccauleyauthor.wordpress.com/history/tauranga-moana-m....