Bitcoin transactions have become the central focus of a high-profile murder case in New Zealand.

Golden Finance reported that a New Zealand woman has been charged with murdering her elderly mother. The prosecution stated on Monday that she allegedly carried out an encryption “exit scam” a few days before the incident, extracting thousands of dollars through forged trading profits, while losing over $40k in crypto assets and Bitcoin investments the previous year. Julia DeLuney is on trial at the Wellington High Court for the alleged murder of her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory. The incident occurred on January 24, 2024, at Gregory’s residence in Khandallah. The prosecution accused DeLune of staging the scene to make it appear as though the mother fell to her death from the attic, but forensic experts determined that the multiple blunt force injuries and other fatal wounds on the victim’s head were inconsistent with those caused by a fall.