Woman Kills Mom Over Crypto Scam, But Here’s Where It Gets Really Bizarre

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Oh boy, here we go again! Julia DeLuney, a 53-year-old from New Zealand, has been accused of doing the unthinkable — murdering her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory, after siphoning off her cash for some good ol’ crypto investments. And you thought your family was messed up!

According to Radio New Zealand (because, of course, this all happens in New Zealand), Julia is being accused of stealing her mom’s secret stash of money, which, surprise surprise, wasn’t stashed in a bank account. Nope, Helen thought she was too smart for that and kept it hidden in various plastic bags around the house. Classic move, right?

So, here’s the twist — after a fall landed Helen in the hospital in September 2023, Julia and her husband decided to crash at her place. I guess it’s the “you fall, I stay” policy. When Helen came back home, her friends testified that the place looked like a dumpster fire, and — wait for it — money was missing. Shocking, right?

Helen’s pal Cheryl Thomson spilled the tea: she said that Julia was the only one who knew where the money was hidden. Oh, and guess what? Julia didn’t just steal the cash; she invested it. In cryptocurrency. Yeah, because nothing screams “responsible” like investing your elderly mother’s savings into a volatile digital currency.

The Crypto Scam

Fast forward to January 2024. Helen gets an email from her daughter claiming that her crypto investment made a jaw-dropping profit — over NZD $160,000. Naturally, Julia asks for some “withdrawal fees” (because those are always a thing in legitimate investments, right?) and a cool NZD $18,000 for tax liabilities. And guess who she wanted to cover it? That’s right — mom!

But here’s the kicker: experts at the trial said those fees were all fake. Not just a little fake. Like, “you’ve been scammed” fake. Cheryl Thomson, one of Helen’s friends, says Julia promised to give her mom some returns by November 2024 — and then changed it to April 2024. Let’s just say Julia is really good at setting *moving* dates.

Meanwhile, financial whiz Eric Huang got his hands on Julia’s financial records. His analysis showed that in the year leading up to her mom’s death, Julia spent NZD $93,000 on crypto. Yeah, that’s a lot of ‘HODLing.’ Oh, and by the way, she also took NZD $55,000 from family members. A solid investment plan, right? Well, her crypto account was *almost* NZD $41,000 in the red by January 2024. Not so much a ‘get rich quick’ scheme as much as a ‘get broke fast’ scheme.

The Murder

Then, in a truly mind-blowing turn of events, Helen was found dead at her home in January 2024, just two days after receiving that email from Julia. The scenario gets weirder. Julia and her husband supposedly left after the fall incident, but when they came back, Julia found the house in shambles — like someone had decided to have a mini war in there.

The reconstruction of the event suggests Julia might’ve attacked her mom before trying to cover it up by making it look like a fall from the attic. Yeah, a little too convenient. And, of course, police found some inconsistencies in Julia’s story. She was allegedly changing clothes all night like she was prepping for a fashion show, and there was blood everywhere — on the walls, the floor, even in the hallway. Just a slight *fall*, right?

Detective Sergeant Giulia Boffa revealed some serious holes in Julia’s story, like key details missing about her whereabouts and actions. Something tells me Julia forgot to read the “How to Commit a Murder Without Getting Caught” handbook.

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2025-07-15 20:06