Hilary Nathan, formerly known as Pauline Parker, died earlier this month at the age of 88 on South Ronaldsay, one of the Orkney Islands off the northern coast of Scotland. Her death was quietly registered in Kirkwall, the islands’ capital, with no public record of her funeral or attendance. Nathan had spent her final years at Braeburn Court, an assisted living facility in St Margaret’s Hope, where staff declined to comment on her passing.

Nathan was originally Pauline Parker, one half of a notorious teenage duo convicted of murder in 1954 in Christchurch, New Zealand. At 16, Parker, together with her close friend Juliet Hulme, bludgeoned Parker’s mother, Honorah Parker, to death using half a brick wrapped in a stocking. The crime shocked Christchurch, a city known for its conservative social values, and led to extensive media coverage at the time. Both girls were tried after a six-day court case and found guilty, but because of their age, they were spared the death penalty and served five-and-a-half years in separate prisons before being released.

Following their release, both women left New Zealand and assumed new identities in the United Kingdom. Hulme became Anne Perry, a successful crime novelist who published more than 100 books and sold over 26 million copies before her death in 2023. Parker chose a more private existence, adopting the name Hilary Nathan and becoming a horse-riding instructor, eventually settling far from public view in the Orkneys.

The murder case gained renewed attention in 1994 when Peter Jackson’s film "Heavenly Creatures" dramatized the girls’ intense friendship and the murder. The film’s success, along with media investigation, revealed their new identities, sparking significant public interest and intrusive reporting. While Perry acknowledged and discussed her past openly, Nathan rejected the attention and consistently denied her identity when contacted by journalists. After being located in Kent, Nathan moved to the remote Orkney Islands to avoid further media scrutiny.

The motive behind the murder was tied closely to the intense and obsessive friendship between the two girls. They shared a fascination with fantasy worlds, literature, and film, and developed a private realm they called the "Fourth World," which they illustrated in poems and stories. Documents from their diaries reveal a macabre and detailed plan, alongside claims of possessing a special connection to this fantasy world.

Honorah Parker, the victim, had a complex background. Born in Birmingham, England, she emigrated to New Zealand after the death of her father, who had been institutionalized. She had a long-term relationship with Herbert Rieper, with whom she had four children, including Pauline, though the family name used during the trial was Parker, a name unknown to Pauline before the case.

The trial and ensuing media attention also addressed the nature of Parker and Hulme’s relationship, which many observers considered romantic. Medical testimony pointed to a homosexual element, though Perry denied they were lovers.

Nathan’s passing closes the chapter on one of New Zealand’s most infamous criminal cases, a rare example of matricide by an adolescent daughter that continues to hold public fascination decades later.