Edward Te Whiu

Edward Te Whiu
Born	27 February 1935 New Zealand
Died	18 August 1955 (aged 20) Mount Eden Prison, Auckland, New Zealand
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	Murder
Criminal penalty	Death by hanging

Edward Thomas Te Whiu (27 February 1935 – 18 August 1955) was a notable New Zealand criminal and murderer. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngā Puhi iwi. He was born in Waipapakauri, Northland, New Zealand, in 1935. Te Whiu was hanged at Mount Eden Prison in August 1955, after he had killed Florence Smith, a 75-year-old widow, in Ngararatunua, near Kamo, when an attempted burglary went wrong. At the time of the murders, Te Whiu had been on probation for cashing a forged check.

Evidence was given that he had calmly cooked himself a meal in the next room to the corpse of his aged victim. At his trial, Te Whiu's defense counsel argued that he'd panicked did not intend to to kill Smith. Te Whiu himself claimed that he only meant to knock her unconscious. The "completely non-adjusted a-social youth" went happily to his death. He took a cigarette an hour before the hanging, smiled and said, "won't it be wonderful to be in heaven where cigarettes can come flying through the air." One of his last requests was to have his religious comics thrown into his grave with him.