Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Murder of Teresa Cormack

Teresa Maida Cormack (18 June1981 – 19 June 1987) was a six-year-old murder victim from Napier,New Zealand. After fifteen years, advances in genetic analysis led toconviction of Jules Mikus (28 September 1958 – 6 December 2019) forthe crime. He had been identified as a potential suspect early in theinvestigation, but had offered an alibi that was accepted at thetime.

Murder and death

Teresa lived in Napier, New Zealand,with her mother, Kelly Piggot, and her younger sister Sara. Althoughreluctant to go to school on the day after her birthday, Cormackdeparted home on her normal walking route to Richmond Primary School,which was a short distance from where she lived. However, she did notgo to school and instead wandered the streets in the suburb ofMaraenui for around an hour.

Eight days later, Cormack's body wasdiscovered at the base of a tree on Whirinaki Beach by a womanwalking her dog. An autopsy revealed that she had been raped andsuffocated.

Investigation

Three male pubic hairs were foundorally and in her underwear, and semen was found vaginally onCormack's body. However, genetic fingerprinting at the time was notadvanced enough to find her killer.

Jules Mikus (born 28 September 1958),who committed many sex crimes as a teenager, was questioned by policeand provided samples of his saliva and blood. Mikus provided an alibifor the time the abduction was believed to have occurred. Afterwards,he was excluded as a suspect.

Breakthrough

The Cormack murder case was re-openedin 1998 and new testing was done at a crime lab in the United States.Due to advances in genetic fingerprinting, a minute sample of semenstored sealed between two microscope slides was able to be profiledin 2001 by technicians at ESR (Environmental Science & Research,a Crown Research Institute owned wholly by the New Zealandgovernment).

Despite having this profile, an arrestwas not immediate. A public television broadcast by the detective incharge and seen by Mikus provoked a reaction in front of the peoplewith whom he lived but they did not contact police. Eight-hundred andforty-five blood samples had been taken, of these, four were ofinsufficient quality to make a profile. After nearly a year oftesting the blood (taking until 22 February 2002), only one bloodprofile matched the semen and it came from Mikus.

On 26 February 2002, fifteen yearsafter Cormack's death, police arrested Mikus for the murder. AlthoughMikus pleaded not guilty, a jury found him guilty for kidnapping,rape, sexual assault and murder. He was sentenced to lifeimprisonment for murder, preventative detention for rape, and 14years each for the sexual assault and abduction, all servedconcurrently, with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years. Mikusdied while serving a life sentence for the death of 6-year-old TeresaCormack. It was reported he was dying from a brain tumor and died 9December 2019.

Aftermath

The case attracted widespread interestin New Zealand.

In 2004, Rowene Marsh-Potaka (who hadcampaigned to stop her brother from being paroled for murder)collaborated with Cormack's mother Kelly Piggot to write ananti-parole song. They wanted the song to let people know thatoffenders such as Mikus should serve their full sentences. Piggotalso has a daughter named Sara.

Paul Rothwell's play Golden Boys, whichran at Circa Theatre in early 2006, was inspired by the Cormack case.