Four Teens Found Guilty of Manslaughter in Auckland Killing of Kyle Whorrall

A High Court jury in Auckland found four teenagers guilty of manslaughter and aggravated robbery on Thursday, 5 November, over the killing of American doctoral student Kyle Whorrall. The jury acquitted all four of murder after a trial lasting about three weeks. Their names remain suppressed by order of Justice Simon Mount. The defendants had pleaded not guilty to murder and aggravated robbery. Jurors began deliberating at 3:20pm on Wednesday. In his directions, Justice Mount told them to assess the evidence against each defendant separately and cautioned against “guilt by association.” The four defendants are now 18 and 19 but were youths when the offending occurred. Prosecutor Henry Steele argued that the teenagers had driven along St Johns Road while developing a plan to rob Whorrall, and that two occupants left the vehicle, one carrying a machete. Defence lawyers challenged what individual defendants knew and whether the evidence established who got out. Annabel Maxwell-Scott argued that her client had not joined a robbery plan and that the machete attack was an impulsive act by the defendant who had already pleaded guilty. Whorrall, 33, was studying entomology for a PhD at the University of Auckland. He was killed during a robbery at a bus stop on St Johns Road in Meadowbank on 19 April 2025. A fifth teenager had previously pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated robbery and was not among the four receiving verdicts on Thursday. No sentencing date had been set when the verdicts were reported.