Vivien Harrison, the ex-wife of Arthur Allen Thomas and staunch supporter of his innocence, died of cancer.
“Harrison filed for divorce after Thomas’ guilty verdict remained in place after the second trial. She changed her name from Vivienne Thomas to Vivien Harrison.
She remained a staunch supporter of his innocence, maintaining he was home with her at the time of the murders. In July last year, Harrison spoke out about the murder mystery.
She sent a letter to Justice Minister Simon Power, requesting he re-open the cold case.”
In 1970, a murder investigation was launched after a baby was found alive in a blood stained house with the parents nowhere to be found. This investigation would later shock the nation in what was to become one of New Zealand’s most notorious cases of police misconduct. A time line of the case can be found here.
The bodies of Jeannette and Harvey Crewe were discovered weighted and dumped in the Waikato River and neighbour Thomas was arrested and convicted following two trials. Thomas was eventually exonerated and is fighting with Rochelle Crewe to get an independent review of the Crewe Murders. New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key has refused to launch an independent inquiry into the unsolved murders of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe.
Vivien Harrison’s marriage to Arthur Allen Thomas was destroyed by the murder case and its handling yet, she never doubted her ex-husband when he said he was innocent. My deepest sympathy for both families.
[…] who mattered was betrayed. Arthur Allen Thomas and then-wife Vivien Harrison were betrayed by police framing them and a trial that destroyed their marriage. Rochelle Crewe was […]