The man convicted of murdering Dunedin woman Sophie Elliott is up for parole after serving 18 years behind bars.
Clayton Weatherston, a 33-year-old economics tutor at the University of Otago, stabbed his ex-partner, 22, more than 200 times on January 9, 2008.
He was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years after being found guilty of her murder following a five-week trial in Christchurch in 2009.
Weatherston, now in his 50s, is eligible for parole at the end of the month.
Family of Sophie Elliott braces for killer’s first parole hearing - Watch on TVNZ+
Sophie's father Gil Elliott told 1News it was a day he was dreading.
"It's sort of affected me the whole way through, I suppose. You sort of almost count down, you sort of think to yourself '15 years to go', '14 years to go'. It won't have gone quickly for him, I imagine, but it's certainly gone pretty quickly for us," he said.
"He hasn't had any rehabilitation apparently, and why would he because he doesn't think he did anything wrong, because he thinks it was all Sophie's fault."
'The whole room seemed to be red'
The gruesome attack took place in Sophie's locked bedroom in her family home in Ravensbourne, just one day before she was set to relocate to Wellington to start a job with the Treasury.
Her mother, Lesley Elliot, had let Weatherston into their home after he showed up unannounced, claiming to have a farewell gift for her.
"She just started screaming and screaming and screaming," Lesley said during the trial.
After eventually breaking in, she remembered "the whole room seemed to be red".
During the trial, Weatherston took the stand in his own defence as he attempted to blame their daughter for his horrific crime. He laughed often under cross examination, telling the Crown prosecutor: "It's drama. It's Pride and Prejudice, you've seen it; she's Mrs Bennett and I'm Mr Darcy. It's Mills and Boon man."
But when he was asked about his systematic mutilation of her body after she was already dead, his reply was simply, "I don't know".
Weatherston – who had been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder by two psychiatrists appearing for the defence – claimed the extreme brutality was manslaughter, not murder, as he had been provoked by Sophie.
At the time of the trial, Weatherston's use of the partial defence of provocation caused major public outcry. He claimed his tumultuous six-month relationship with Sophie sparked the killing and that she had attacked him first. The provocation defence was abolished in New Zealand just months later.
Outside court after Weatherston's sentencing in September 2009, Gil said, "He never pleaded guilty and he's never said sorry."
A life denied
Gil Elliott has prepared a five-page submission opposing Weatherston's release. He has also applied for a postponement order, meaning Weatherston's next parole hearing could be between three and five years away if he is denied release this month.
He wants the Parole Board to understand the true dangers of a narcissistic personality.
"They don't have any conscience, so they don't have any empathy whatsoever because they only ever think about themselves. We don't know what went on in his strange mind and I just hope the Parole Board know these sorts of people are unpredictable. If they let him out, then let it be on their heads."
Gil hopes the man who took his daughter's life will never regain his.
"Sophie could have been Secretary of the Treasury, I wouldn't have been surprised at all. She may be married, might have had children. It's all been denied for her; it's been denied for our family as well."
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