Lena Zhang Harrap was born on the 8th of November, 1993. From the very start, it was clear that Lena was special. Born with Down syndrome and vision impairment, she faced challenges that many would find daunting, yet she never allowed her disabilities to define her. Lena underwent open-heart surgery as a baby, a battle that earned her the title of “little warrior” by her loved ones.
However, her biological parents found the challenges too overwhelming, and at just five-days-old, she was put up for adoption. Lena was soon embraced by the Harrap family, with Martin and Sue becoming the loving parents she needed.1
Growing up on Jersey Avenue in Mt. Albert, New Zealand, Lena was surrounded by love and unwavering support. Her adoptive parents encouraged her to be independent, and she thrived under their care, becoming a loving and caring soul who was always ready with a hug or a kind word.
Despite her vision impairment, Lena had an acute sense of the world, understanding people and situations with an empathy that was far beyond her years. When she was nine-years-old, she became involved in the children’s charity, Heart Kids New Zealand. She attended events each month, and fundraised in the annual “shake a bucket” drives and coffee meet ups.2
By 2021, Lena was a 27-year-old woman living at home with her parents on Jersey Avenue. While she had a childlike innocence, she embraced womanhood with grace and joy. She was known for her quirky attributes and affectionately answered to many nicknames, including Piglet, Beans, and Pie.
On the morning of 22 September, 2021, Lena left the family home alone for her early morning walk. Though Lena had Down syndrome, she prided herself on her independence, particularly during these morning walks to Ōwairaka Domain.
This is a park and garden in the middle of the suburbs. It was a popular place for walkers and joggers, with a football field in the middle, and trees and paths along the outskirts. It was just a four minute walk from Lena’s home, but she would walk around the streets first, and make her way over to the park.
But as the morning sun rose higher in the sky, Lena’s parents noticed that she hadn’t yet returned home. The hours trickled past and by midday, her absence was impossible to ignore. Lena was a slow walker, but it had now been hours since she left the family home.
Martin and Sue felt a gnawing worry settle in their hearts. They drove around the neighbourhood but Lena was nowhere to be found. They reported her missing, prompting a large-scale hunt. Lena was very well-known in the community, and people came out in their droves in search of her. But it wouldn’t be long before she was discovered.3
At about 4:30PM that afternoon, a volunteer searcher was walking along a narrow walkway between Grande Avenue and Summit Drive. The day had been long, filled with a tense urgency as she and others had scoured the area for any sign of Lena.
The brush along the path was thick, blocking out most of the sunlight. As she continued along the walkway, something in the near distance caught her eye. It was a small, indistinct shape on the ground, partially obscured by the brush. At first, she wasn’t sure what she was seeing, but a sense of foreboding gripped her as she moved closer.
Her steps slowed, her breath catching in her throat as the shape became clearer. When she was close enough to see, her heart sank. It was Lena. Lena’s small frame lay motionless on the ground, her body twisted awkwardly among the leaves and dirt. It was immediately clear that she was deceased.
Beside Lena’s body, there was something else that made the volunteer’s stomach turn—a pile of blood-soaked clothing, its dark fabric contrasting sharply against the green of the foliage. But it wasn’t Lena’s. The clothing was larger, and it clearly belonged to whoever had killed her.4
In a matter of minutes, the area was cordoned off as detectives and crime scene experts arrived to begin their grim examination. After her body was photographed and documented as it was found, Lena was transported to the medical examiner’s office, where the horrors of her death were on full display.
She had been brutally beaten and then strangled to death. There were 13 bruises and abrasions to her head, as well as blunt force trauma that had caused brain injuries. Objects had been stuffed into her mouth causing injuries, and she had a number of bite marks to her body. Lena had also been raped with such force that it had caused internal injuries.
In an effort to trace Lena’s killer, detectives began scrutinizing local CCTV footage. A camera showed her turning onto Grande Avenue at around 7:30AM and then dropping out of view. They noticed that there was somebody else in the footage – a man emerging just minutes after Lena was last seen.
This man was dark-skinned, wore a blue jumper and was balding. He had a distinct mark on his forehead and he wore a mask covering the lower half of his face. The clothing matched the blood-stained clothing found at the crime scene.5
After the CCTV footage was released, a woman came forward and said she recognised the man. He had tried to run her over while she was jogging about 24 hours before Lena was attacked. He was eventually identified as 31-year-old Shamal Sharma, a homeless man living out of his car for several weeks.
When he was arrested, he was found to be wearing blood-stained clothing. DNA testing proved that the blood had come from Lena. Sharma was charged with murder and sexual violation. In announcing the arrest, Detective Inspector Pascoe said: “This was a sickening and senseless attack on a vulnerable member of our community, which we know disturbed and angered a lot of people. While nothing will bring Lena back to her family, we hope today’s arrest provides a degree of comfort and reassurance knowing the person allegedly responsible for her brutal murder is in custody where he belongs.”6
On 20 October, 2022, Sharma appeared in court and pleaded guilty to Lena’s murder. He also pleaded guilty to sexual violation and driving a motor vehicle in a dangerous manner.7
At the sentencing phase in May, more details about Lena’s murder were revealed. However, some aspects were reportedly too graphic to report.
It was disclosed that Sharma was homeless, and he had encountered Lena as he walked past her on the opposite side of Grande Avenue. She was making her way to a bush-lined concrete pathway that led to Summit Road. As she walked up the road, he glanced back towards her on several occasions. He was loitering in the area until she began walking up the more remote, wooded pathway.8
It wasn’t known when exactly Sharma attacked Lena, but it was known that she was tortured over the course of two hours. She had been beaten, strangled and raped. Crown prosecutor Matthew Nathan said to the judge: “This has a degree of sadism through the infliction of pain.”
Sharma had said in a medical assessment following arrest that he “didn’t mean to do all of those things” to Lena, but that it was “too late to turn back” and he “had to finish the job.” Sharma had also spoke about being possessed by a demon.
The prosecutor mentioned the earlier attack on the jogger. He said that this was a “rehearsal” for his violent sexual attack on Lena just 24 hours later.9
The prosecutor informed the judge that Sharma had been living out of his car in the two weeks leading up to the murder. He had frequently been smoking methamphetamine, which triggered unhealthy sexual thoughts. The prosecutor also said that Sharma had long suffered from schizophrenia, but said that he was found to be legally sane at the time of the murder. The motivation, he said, was his desire for sexual violence.
After the prosecutor stepped down, defence attorney Jonathan Hudson announced: “Mr Sharma has asked me to convey his sincere apology for his offending. He has sincere and genuine remorse for what he has done.” He denied that the two attacks were calculated and planned, and described them instead as being opportunistic. He described his client as somebody who was “seriously disordered “by mental health issues.
He said his client had been assessed by mental health professionals before the murder, before adding: “Unfortunately, he was returned to the community at that point. It’s possibly a lost opportunity for some sort of intervention.”
After the details of the case were read aloud in the courtroom, Lena’s family stood up to provide their victim impact statements. Her mother, Sue, turned to Sharma in the dock and addressed him directly. She was blunt as she told him: “You could have chosen not to hurt her, to walk away.”
Her father, Martin, spoke of his daughter’s love of dance and music. He struggled to hold his composure as he said: “Lena has gone, and I am heartbroken. Lena spent the last hours on this earth with the worst of humanity. She lost her life because Shamal Sharma wanted to satisfy his desires. He disposed of her as if she was rubbish.”
He said that Lena wanted to do so much in her life, but all that had been taken from her. He talked about Lena’s last moments on earth, questioning: “I wonder when she realised she was in mortal danger. How long was she conscious knowing she would die?”
Shamal Sharma was then sentenced to life in prison.
Footnotes:
- Daily Star, 23 September, 2021 – “Delightful Woman Killed”
- Foreign Affairs, 23 September, 2021 – “Operation Daleyza”
- MailOnline, 23 September, 2021 – “Man is Charged with the Murder”
- Greymouth Star, 24 September, 2021 – “Man Charged with Lena’s Murder”
- Bay of Plenty Times, 25 September, 2021 – “Sickening Killing Breaks Hearts”
- The Post, 25 September, 2021 – “Man Charged with Murder”
- The Post, 20 October, 2022 – “Man Admits Murder”
- Bay of Plenty Times, 5 May, 2023 – “Sexual Violence Drove Killing”
- New Zealand Herald, 5 May, 2023 – “Killer Earlier Attempted to Run Down Another Stranger”
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