| Edward Te Whiu | |
| Criminal Penalty: | Death by hanging |
| Conviction: | Murder |
| Birth Place: | New Zealand |
| Birth Date: | 27 February 1935 |
| Death Date: | 18 August 1955 (aged 20) |
| Death Cause: | Execution by hanging |
| Criminal Status: | Executed |
| Death Place: | Mount Eden Prison, Auckland, New Zealand |
Edward Thomas Te Whiu (27 February 1935 - 18 August 1955) was a notable New Zealand criminal and murderer. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngā Puhi iwi. He was born in Waipapakauri, Northland, New Zealand, in 1935. Te Whiu was hanged at Mount Eden Prison in August 1955, after he had killed Florence Smith, a 75-year-old widow, in Ngararatunua, near Kamo, when an attempted burglary went wrong. At the time of the murders, Te Whiu had been on probation for cashing a forged check.[1]
Evidence was given that he had calmly cooked himself a meal in the next room to the corpse of his aged victim. At his trial, Te Whiu's defense counsel argued that he'd panicked did not intend to kill Smith. Te Whiu himself claimed that he only meant to knock her unconscious.[2] The "completely non-adjusted a-social youth" went happily to his death. He took a cigarette an hour before the hanging, smiled and said, "won't it be wonderful to be in heaven where cigarettes can come flying through the air." One of his last requests was to have his religious comics thrown into his grave with him.[3]