Tony Robertson was convicted after a four-week trial with over 40 witnesses and unanimous verdicts.
1. LAGIM: A Filipino True Crime covers the case of Blessie Gutinko, whose disappearance in Auckland led to a homicide investigation in New Zealand.
2. The episode is narrated by the show’s host, who explains the comparison between Philippine and British criminal justice systems and why New Zealand’s system matters in this case.
3. The central question is what happened to Blessie after she left work near Auckland’s CBD on 24 May 2014.
4. Blessie left the Tower Insurance offices just before 7pm and planned to take the 720 or 740 bus home to Birkdale.
5. Her daughter arrived home at about 3.15am, called her brothers, and police were notified about 15 minutes later.
6. The next day, the family used Blessie’s phone locator and found her phone, lunchbox, and shoes near Salisbury Road, but not her bag, Omega watch, or red-frame reading glasses.
7. Police investigated the bus company, spoke to passengers, and gathered CCTV while local and international media began covering the disappearance of the mother of three.
8. A neighbor reported hearing screaming around 8pm and then the sound of a car driving away, which intensified concern in the Birkdale neighborhood.
9. On 26 May 2014, police found a body in Birkenhead Glenfield Cemetery and confirmed it was Blessie Gutinko.
10. The case was escalated to homicide, and on 27 May police announced Operation Lindsay and examined two crime scenes under the investigation.
11. The accused was later charged with murder, and a name suppression order kept his identity out of the public record during the early court process.
12. By April 2015, the trial detailed how Blessie was hit by a car near the footpath, dragged into the vehicle, and taken to the defendant’s apartment.
13. Crown Prosecutor Michael Walker said the car impact damaged the bonnet and windscreen, and the prosecution argued the attack was deliberate.
14. The court heard that Tony Robertson raped Blessie, then slit her throat and stabbed her repeatedly before moving her body to the cemetery.
15. GPS bracelet data placed Robertson at the cemetery hours before the attack, which the prosecution treated as evidence of planning and premeditation.
16. Police found a knife with Blessie’s blood, bloody towels, a mop head, and blood and hair traces that tested back to Blessie in Robertson’s apartment and car.
17. Robertson dismissed his defense lawyer, represented himself, and claimed the death was an accident, while also attacking the DNA evidence as microscopic and unreliable.
18. Forensic evidence described severe neck wounds, a broken jaw, bruises, punctured lung injuries, and signs that Blessie died within minutes after sustained violence.
19. The tone is chronological and forensic, with trigger warnings, courtroom detail, and extended commentary on police monitoring and Department of Corrections decisions.
20. Listeners interested in New Zealand true crime and criminal justice failures will get the most from it, while people avoiding graphic forensic testimony may skip it.
