Christopher John Lewis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1964-09-07)7 September 1964 Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Died | 23 September 1997(1997-09-23) (aged 33) Mount Eden Prison,Auckland, New Zealand |
| Cause of death | Suicide by electrocution |
| Known for | Attempted assassination ofQueen Elizabeth II |
Christopher John Lewis (7 September 1964 – 23 September 1997) was aNew Zealand criminal who made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinateQueen Elizabeth II in 1981. He planned future attempts at assassinating otherBritish royal family members but was kept away from them by the authorities in New Zealand.
In 1997, Lewis was charged with the murder of Tania Furlan and the kidnapping of her daughter. Hekilled himself in custody before he could be brought to trial.
Lewis was born inDunedin on 7 September 1964. He had a troubled life; his father was a cruel disciplinarian, and he was expelled from school after assaulting another child. He struggled at school and was unable to write or read until the age of eight.[1] As a boy, he idolisedCharles Manson.[2] In his teens, he formed a would-be guerrilla army (the National Imperial Gurelia [sic] Army) with two friends. The group stole weapons, sent a threatening letter to the police, and robbed a post office of NZ$5,244.[1]
On 14 October 1981, 17-year-old Lewis had been tracking the New Zealand tour of the royal family, who were to visitOtago Museum inDunedin. Lewis concealed aBSA.22 (5.6 mm) calibrebolt-action rifle wrapped up in an old pair of jeans, and travelled by bicycle to the Adams Building, where he took up a position in a toilet cubicle. He fired through the window at the Queen as she was exiting a car. The shot did not impact near the Queen or anyone else, but a loud crack was heard; local police told journalists that the noise had been caused by a sign falling down.[3][4][5]
While Lewis did not have a proper vantage point nor a sufficiently powerful rifle for his purposes, a 1997 report by theNew Zealand Security Intelligence Service notes that his intent was to kill the Queen.[6] Eight days after firing the shot, Lewis was arrested and charged with public possession of a firearm, and public discharging of a firearm. As the charges were read to him, Lewis responded, "Only two charges, what? Shit ... Had the bullet hit her, would it be treason?" Lewis served three years in prison, with the last part in a psychiatric prison.[3]
The New Zealand Police covered up the story, charging him with possession of a firearm, but kept the event under wraps as they were concerned that it would create a negative image of New Zealand and endanger future royal visits.[7][8][2] According to police files, Lewis was being asked about an unrelated robbery, when he took police to the position where he had fired at the Queen and showed police the empty casings and the rifle.[9] The facts of the attempt were classified, until released in February 2018 in response to a request fromFairfax Media.[6]
Lewis unsuccessfully attempted to escape from apsychiatric ward in 1983, when the Prince and Princess of Wales,Charles andDiana, toured New Zealand with their sonWilliam.[8]
Lewis was eventually released, and when the royal family visited in 1995 the government sent him toGreat Barrier Island to keep him away from them.[10] He was later charged with the 1997 murder of a young mother, Tania Furlan,[11] who was bludgeoned to death with a hammer, and the kidnapping of her child.[12] He electrocuted himself inMount Eden Prison,Auckland, while awaiting trial.[1][13][14] A friend of Lewis, Travis Burns, later received a reward for implicating him in Furlan's murder.[15]