Murdered teenager Trinity Oliver wanted to be a kōhanga reo teacher

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Trinity Oliver was 16 when she was found dead on McVilly Rd in Manurewa in September 2021.

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Trinity Oliver was 16 when she was found dead on McVilly Rd in Manurewa in September 2021.

Trinity Oliver loved her family, animals – especially her puppy Shadow – and had dreams of becoming a kōhanga reo teacher.

Her life was cut short at 16 when she was brutally beaten and strangled to death by a man she’d briefly had a relationship with.

He left her naked body on a secluded street in Manurewa.

Her parents, Margaret and Matthew Oliver, miss her every day.

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Her killer, Vikhil Krishna was found guilty of her murder on Tuesday after the jury rejected his defence of manslaughter.

Krishna and Trinity had been in a brief relationship in July 2021. But communication stopped after he choked Shadow, yelled and pushed Trinity.

She was scared and called the police.

The pair didn’t start talking again until the week of her death. Krishna initiated the communication, texting and ringing her asking if she wanted to meet for a “puff”, meaning methamphetamine.

Trinity Oliver's whānau gathered outside court after the verdict.

Supplied

Trinity Oliver’s whānau gathered outside court after the verdict.

When Krishna sent texts to Trinity, she didn’t always reply.

On September 9, the Oliver whānau had a dinner. Matthew had cooked a roast and his daughter made a little jibe at his cooking. But that was her, they said.

That same night, Trinity and Krishna exchanged a few messages.

“When you have too much you don’t listen at all. I can’t have that. You always do the same mistake,” Oliver texted Krishna.

She messaged him again: “I had to hang up cos for real what you did really f…. me up and I couldn’t forgive myself. I had fun today but idk [I don’t know] how to feel”.

By this time Krishna was parked up on Trinity’s street and she went to meet him.

September 10 was the last time Margaret Oliver heard from her daughter.

“Be home tonight, some shit happened,” Trinity texted.

Margaret tried to call her twice but couldn’t get through.

Vikhil Krishna was found guilty of murder on Tuesday.

Catrin Owen/Stuff

Vikhil Krishna was found guilty of murder on Tuesday.

The following day, police turned up asking if she recognised a necklace found on Trinity’s body.

Trinity was found naked, battered and bruised on a secluded Manurewa street near the Homai train station.

When the police searched Trinity’s caravan on the Oliver property, they found her pouch where she kept her bank card, some clothes and other items.

The Olivers said if they’d noticed she’d left the pouch, they would have realised something was not quite right.

By this time, Krishna had told police and friends he was the one who had been attacked.

He later told friends something a bit closer to the truth.

Krishna said he’d put the girl in a chokehold and pushed her out of the car.

Abigail Dougherty/Stuff

Detective Inspector Scott Beard said police are working to identify the woman found dead in Manurewa. (First published September 2021)

Trinity was one of seven children.

She’d applied to work at a kōhanga reo. She’d always wanted to be a teacher and loved children, Margaret said.

Matthew said if Trinity had been attacked outside the car she may have got away because of some self-defence he’d taught her. Their other children are now learning boxing.

Margaret doesn’t have any anger towards Krishna.

“I don’t think she would want him to suffer,” she said.

Everyday Matthew gets home from work he misses Trinity come running up and jumping onto his shoulders with her arms around him “asking for a feed”.

“I miss that,” he said.

Because Trinity died during a Covid lockdown, Margaret had to identify her daughter through a glass window and the whānau weren’t able to bring her body home.

“That destroyed us the most.

“She was a good kid. It’s such a waste.”

Krishna stood emotionless in the dock, sporting a fresh black eye, as the jury delivered a unanimous guilty verdict on Tuesday.

He will be sentenced in May.

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