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Former Lawyer Marries Convicted Rapist And Murderer In Prison Ceremony

They tied the knot at a maximum security prison

On Tuesday, New Zealand former lawyer Davina Murray married the man of her dreams.

But her choice of husband—and the ceremony itself—has been slammed as “revolting” and “appalling” by the NZ Corrections Minister, 7 News reports.

Ms Murray tied the knot with her former client, convicted rapist and murderer Liam Reid, at a ceremony at Auckland Prison. The marriage at the maximum security prison was approved by the prison director. 

Reid is currently serving a minimum 23-year sentence for the rape and murder of deaf Christchurch woman Emma Agnew, and attempted murder of a 21-year-old student in Dunedin,

Ms Murray was found guilty of smuggling an iPhone, cigarettes and a lighter into Mount Eden Prison to Mr Reid in 2011.

Text messages from Ms Murray to a friend, that were presented in an Auckland court in 2013, reveal how their forbidden romance unfolded.

“I hate that I’m in love with him … if the courts say no, I wouldn’t care but I’m scared to lose him,” Ms Murray wrote, Stuff.Co.Nz reports.

“He makes me laugh, he makes me think, he makes me cry, he makes me feel beautiful, he makes me sing.”

NZ Corrections Minister Louise Upston said that while the marriage was a legal affair, it was an affront to the family of Reid’s victims.

“I find it revolting. I find it absolutely distasteful. Unfortunately, it is not illegal to get married in this country,” she said.

“I am thinking of Emma Agnew’s family because they won’t get to see [their daughter] married.”

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