After months of largely-ignored viral marketing and subtle in-jokes, Salient is launching the Lundy 500.
The event, in a similar vein to the defunct Undie 500, invites teams of vehicles to travel from Petone to Palmerston North as convicted double murderer Mark Lundy did in 2000, before murdering wife Christine and daughter Amber, according to the prosecution at his 2002 trial.
Police said Lundy drove from a motel room in Petone to Palmerston North in 68 minutes in order to commit the murders. As a test of the evidence, police found themselves unable to re-create the driving time.
Other investigators, and some Lundy supporters, say this commute time was based on stomach contents testing showing Christine and Amber were murdered about 7pm on August 29.
That evidence has been disputed by a number of pathologists as an inaccurate way of determining time of death. Lundy is understood to be working on an appeal against his sentence, and Salient is taking the opportunity to test the crucial piece of timing evidence.
Salient editor Jackson Wood explained that the event was designed to draw attention to some of the inconsistencies in the New Zealand legal system.
“We’re not encouraging people to break the law; we’re encouraging people to think critically about the justice system and the quality of the justice delivered in New Zealand,” he said.
Wood said Salient held no official opinion on Lundy’s guilt, and that the Lundy 500 was incidental to a wider discussion of issues surrounding the judicial system.
Participants would be required to sign a contract saying they would not break the law or the University’s student code of conduct during the event.
The Lundy 500 is scheduled to take place at high noon on Saturday, August 29—the eighth anniversary of the murders.
Salient would like to invite contestants or sign up at 4 PM Thursday 6 August in the Salient Office, Level 2, Student Union Building, Kelburn Campus, Victoria University of Wellington. Beer and small nibbles will be provided.
All enquiries can be directed to this email.