The man behind one of New Zealand's worst mass killings, Raymond Ratima, has been denied parole for a second time in just over a year.
The Parole Board said it hadn't got to the bottom of what the risks would be in releasing the 55-year-old, and that more rehabilitation was required.
In 1992, Ratima was convicted of seven murders, attempted murder and the murder of an unborn child.
Three of the victims were his own sons.
He pleaded guilty to the murders, which took place in Masterton, and was sentenced to life in prison.
During the hearing, Ratima told the board that for the past 30 years he had regretted ending innocent lives.
He said he was fully aware of the trauma of his actions on the living victims.
Among them were his wife at the time and parents-in-law, who he also attempted to murder during the killing spree.
"For the past three decades I have walked life with the great weight of loss of mana and shame. I will walk the rest of my life with that whakamā," Ratima said.
In response, chair of the Parole Board Sir Ron Young asked Ratima if he understood why the family of the victims wanted him to remain in prison.
Ratima said he did and that he had aroha for the victims.
READ MORE: One of NZ's worst killers, Raymond Ratima, denied parole, remains risk
When questioned again whether he understood their point of view, Ratima replied he was applying for parole because the law allowed him to.
Young said Ratima could not hide behind the law.
"Given the threat you made to your wife and father-in-law, they remain fearful," Young said.
Ratima said he would never do anything to harm them in the future because he had taken so much from them already.
During the hearing Ratima also denied that his intention was to kill seven members of his family, and the hammer and knife he used were scare tactics.
He said prior to the murders he had suffered a mental breakdown, after being served a protection order by his then-wife.
It had stopped him from seeing his children.
He said he was also homeless and had no job, and was failed by welfare agencies when he reached out for help.
When pressed for details on the sequence of the killing spree, Ratima said he was not sure because he was in a state of mind where everything went blank.
That was challenged by a member of the Parole Board, who interviewed him immediately after the killings and said he gave him a clear version of events.
Ratima was then asked why he killed his own children.
"I cannot give a reason," Ratima said, "there was lots of screaming and yelling and everything becomes vague and you wake up and see the carnage you created."
"I wanted to be with my children through death. I was suicidal after that."
The Parole Board queried Ratima on his current relationship with a woman over the past six years.
It asked what Ratima would do if the relationship ended, given the 1992 murders followed a breakdown in his relationship with his then-wife.
He responded saying he has been offered counselling so that he can build on his current relationship.
He also acknowledged that relationship breakdowns are a high risk situation for him.
But the Parole Board did not seem satisfied that enough had been done to address that risk in a safety plan if he was released.
In its summing up it said one of the difficulties is other people had gone through what Ratima had, but hadn't killed their whole family.
It added that Ratima's psychological reports said he remained a moderate risk and that his offending was unusual.
"That is what we grapple with," said Parole Board member Associate Professor Philip Brinded, "your case is more difficult than any."
Ratima can make his next bid for release in 18 months.
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