Anne Perry was born Juliet Marion Hulme on October 28, 1938, in London, England. Her father was Henry Rainsford Hulme, a physicist known for his work in science. As a child, Juliet was diagnosed with tuberculosis. To help her recover, she was sent to places with warmer climates, including the Caribbean, South Africa, and New Zealand.

Juliet returned to her family when her father became the rector of Canterbury University College in New Zealand. She attended Christchurch Girls' High School during this time. In 1948, a photograph of her arrival in New Zealand was published in a local newspaper.

On the afternoon of June 22, 1954, 16-year-old Pauline Parker and 15-year-old Juliet Hulme put their plan into motion. They had tea with Pauline’s mother, Honorah Rieper, at a kiosk in Victoria Park in Christchurch. After the meal, the trio took a walk through a wooded area of the park. There, without warning, the girls brutally attacked Honorah using a half-brick encased in a stocking. The assault was relentless; Honorah suffered fatal head injuries and multiple lacerations across her face, neck, and hands as she tried to defend herself.

The girls attempted to pass off the murder as an accident, claiming that Honorah had slipped and hit her head. However, the brutality of the wounds and the discovery of the murder weapon quickly led investigators to uncover the truth. Both Parker and Hulme confessed, and their disturbing diaries further implicated them. The entries documented their growing obsession, shared delusions, and premeditated decision to commit the murder in order to remain together.

Their trial began in Christchurch and was a national spectacle. Media speculation ran rampant, particularly concerning the girls’ mental states and the nature of their relationship. As they were both under the age of 18, they were spared the death penalty and were instead sentenced to five years in prison. Parker served her sentence in New Zealand, while Hulme was incarcerated at Mount Eden Prison in Auckland.

Following their release, both girls disappeared from public view under new identities. Parker became Hilary Nathan, settled in England, and ran a children's horse-riding school. She later became a devout Catholic and expressed remorse for her crime through her sister in a 1996 statement. Hulme assumed the name Anne Perry, moved to the United States and later Scotland, and became a successful author of historical detective fiction. In 1994, it was publicly revealed that Anne Perry was, in fact, Juliet Hulme. Despite the revelation, Perry continued to write and maintained a following until her death on April 10, 2023, at the age of 84.

Though both women moved on to lead vastly different lives, the Parker–Hulme murder remains one of New Zealand’s most notorious and psychologically complex criminal cases. It continues to be studied for its implications about adolescent psychology, shared delusions (folie à deux), and the blurred lines between fantasy and reality in emotionally intense teenage relationships.