Family members of Christchurch murder victim Nicole Tuxford say her killer should never have been released on parole after a previous murder and the Parole Board didn't do its job properly.
Today in the High Court in Christchurch, Paul Pounamu Tainui was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 28 years. He had earlier pleaded guilty to raping and murdering Ms Tuxford after breaking into her Merivale house on April 7, 2018.
Ms Tuxford's murder came 24 years after Tainui killed Hokitika woman Kimberly Jean Schroder in similar circumstances in 1994.
He was on parole for that murder at the time he killed Ms Tuxford.
The Parole Board has said it followed proper process in releasing Tainui, but outside court today, Ms Tuxford's mother, Cherie Gillatt, described that statement as "a load of s***".
"They didn't follow process. They didn't do their job properly because if they had he shouldn't have been out. He shouldn't have been out the first time let alone the second time."
Ms Tuxford's sister, Christine Armshaw, said the family was initially under the impression that the Parole Board had to let Tainui out at some point but have since discovered he never had to be released.
"They didn't have to, and he should never have been let out, not after what he did the first time. It's disgusting," Mr Armshaw said.
She said the family is disappointed with the sentence because they were hoping this might be the time the court said "lock him up, throw away the key".
Jenny Keogan, a friend of Kim Schroder, the first woman murdered by Tainui, said the families are asking for an independent inquiry into both the Parole Board and Corrections Department's handling of Tainui's case.
"As far as we're concerned we hold the Parole Board fully accountable for what has happened and his release in the first place. There was a complete injustice done back then and we will continue to fight to get accountability for that process," Ms Keogan said.
Of today's sentence, she said: What we wanted was that he never see the light of day again. You could argue that in 28 years he mightn't be around. But then maybe he might."
Tainui, who is also known as Paul Russell Wilson, was a groomsman at David Bain's wedding after the pair met in prison.
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