William Dwane Bell (born 1978) is a New Zealand triple murderer. He committed a triple murder on 8 December 2001 at the Panmure RSA, after they fired him. He committed the murders while out on parole for a previous aggravated robbery in which he almost killed a service station attendant. He had more than 100 prior criminal convictions, including theft, fraud, unlawful taking of motor vehicles, aggravated robbery, presenting a firearm, impersonating police, and assault. He was given a 30-year minimum non-parole life sentence, at the time the longest minimum non-parole period ever given out by New Zealand.
Background
Bell grew up in Māngere, a suburb of South Auckland. His father was a gang member who had spent time in prison, a member of the Mongrel Mob, who beat Bell when he was young. His father stated that his son had told him he wanted to be a better criminal than him and that he wanted to be in a bigger gang. Bell's mother was a Māori Warden, with family ties to the Black Power gang. His parents often drank and were violent to each other, and eventually separated when he was seven years old, after which Bell began to get into trouble and be involved in petty crime. When Bell was 10, his uncle was convicted of manslaughter for stabbing someone during an alcohol binge in a Māngere home.
From ages nine to 17, Bell was a ward of the state and was in and out of a boys' home, this coming after an incident where Bell had stolen his father's car and driven it around town, only to be picked up by police. He began stealing cars, and his crimes soon escalated. He would impersonate security guards and cleaners, and rob elderly homes. Bell was a prostitute at age 14, and would steal the cars of the men he had sex with. His former social worker stated the longest he managed to stay out of trouble was three months. Bell would often impersonate cops and pull over drivers.
In February 1997, aged 19, Bell was turned down for a job at a service station in Māngere because he smoked cannabis. He severely attacked an attendant of the station from behind with a stolen police baton and stole the cash register drawer. The man he attacked surrendered, and told him to take the money, then moved to hide in a toilet cubicle. Bell told him, "It's not the money that matters to me...I don't want to do this, I have to". Bell smashed holes in the door with the police baton. When he left the door, the man escaped by using a chair to get past Bell. Bell was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison for aggravated robbery, the judge saying the robbery was "almost incidental" to the attack, which could have resulted in the attendant's death. After the attack Bell visited the man in hospital, pretending to be a police officer, and threatened him.
He served most of the sentence at Auckland Prison, and was released in July 2001 after serving three-and-a-half years. Based on the law at the time, Bell was automatically released after serving two thirds of his sentence. The parole board had no say in the release, other than to set release conditions. The Board imposed five conditions, including seeing a psychologist, alcohol and drug counselling, and to work in a job approved by his probation officer. Bell had more than 100 prior criminal convictions, including theft, fraud, unlawful taking of motor vehicles, burglary, entering with intent, demands with intent to steal, aggravated robbery, presenting a firearm, impersonating police, assault, trespass, traffic and drug offences. An investigation by The New Zealand Herald found Bell's criminal record "cover[ed] six pages of computer printout".
Bell was assigned to the Māngere probation office which was supposed to monitor his compliance, but not one of the five conditions was met. He found a job as part of a work experience program as a barman at the RSA in Panmure but never told his probation officer. He lasted only two weeks before he was fired—other employees considered him abusive, rude, and untrustworthy. The person who fired Bell told him to "piss off" and to not come back. Days before the murder Bell stole goods from an engineering firm and cash from a tavern. After both robberies the staff gave descriptions of Bell to the police, including his address, phone number, and car plate number. The police classed these thefts as low priority and he was not arrested.