White teacher bashed to death at chimp school

[William of the White Hand]

Woman bashed to death in classroom named

Lois Dear

UPDATED 7.35pm Monday July 17, 2006
By Stuart Dye, Maggie McNaughton and Juliet Rowan

Police have named the teacher bashed to death in a Tokoroa classroom yesterday as Lois Dear, aged 66.

Detective Inspector Garth Bryan, who is heading the homicide inquiry, said Ms Dear had been in her classroom preparing for the new school term when she died.

Police did not yet know the cause of death or any motive.

Twenty five police were working on the inquiry, completing a scene investigation at the school and interviewing neighbours, teachers and other potential witnesses.

Ms Dear was a new-entrant teacher who had been at Strathmore for nine years. Her 1994 Toyota Corolla hatchback was taken from the school a
nd found in Tokoroa at about 9 last night.

Detective Inspector Bryan appealed for more sightings of the car. "We believe the person responsible for Lois' death has also stolen her car," he said.

Ms Dear's brother Harley described her as a "workaholic" who lived for her job. She has a son and daughter and five grandchildren.

"She was just a really neat person -- wouldn't harm anyone, loved animals, loved to work and liked her teaching role. She had been a teacher pretty much from when she left school right until now," Mr Dear said.

"She was a workaholic in terms of her teaching, but she wasn't a workaholic for work's sake, she just loved the job. But in particular she liked seeing the result with kids."

Mr Dear said she had plans to retire at a country property with her family but he did not know when she planned to give up teaching.

She had been looking after her 95-year-old father, who lives in a Tokoroa resthome, because her two brothers lived farther awa
y.

Mr Dear, who lives in Auckland, said he had just delivered the news of her death to their father.

Ms Dear's body was found about noon yesterday by a teacher. It is understood she had head injuries.

The 12-classroom school is rated decile one - the poorest level - by the Ministry of Education.

It caters to mainly Maori and Pacific Island students.

Many of the pupils arrive with poor spoken-language ability, but last year's Education Review Office report said that by the time they reached Years 4 to 6, they were achieving at or above national expectations.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10391618

 

[Unregistered]

I've been watching this case with interest, William. What amazes me is the apparent efforts to try and make out its not a pupil who did it, despite the fact she was killed in a Classroom. There was even a news item concerning the case stating that Teachers can't be safe outside the school. Ok, now what about *inside* the damned school!

 

[Unregistered]

Update: An arrest has been made in the case. The perp is obviously severely Melanin-Enhanced, despite efforts to conceal it. I wonder if he's an African import, he's so dark.

Some details have been intentionally left out of the media reporting, among them they failed to mention that he was a resident in Tokoroa Motor Camp, part of which even the camp owners call Cockroach Valley due to the high number of unemployed and social undesirables in residence

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3743408a11,00.html

Teacher murder accused remanded
25 July 2006

A 23-year-old man accused of murdering schoolteacher Lois Dear was granted interim name suppression when he appeared in a packed Tokoroa District Court this morning.

The Tokoroa man, who was r
emanded to reappear next week during a two-minute appearance, was arrested last night and charged with murder.

New entrant teacher Ms Dear, 66, was found dead in her Strathmore Primary School classroom on Sunday, July 16.

She had been beaten to death while preparing for the new school term the next day.

A crowd and a large news media presence gathered outside the court house in the South Waikato town this morning when the accused was due to appear.

The court house was so packed that 20 or 30 people were forced to remain outside.

A crowd lined fences along the courtyard from Tokoroa Police Station to the court house as the accused was escorted there and back by police officers.

Other police officers stood in front of the crowd, to prevent them getting to the accused, who had abuse hurled at him as he walked head bowed in a white police boiler suit.

"You'll never make sentencing," one onlooker shouted.

One bystander told NZPA she was a caregiver f
or Ms Dear's father, and had come to let people know who had been arrested.

She yelled out the man's name as he was escorted to the court. If they did not know who had been arrested, they did now, she said.

"The whole town is angry," she said, saying she did not want to be named.

"We need to make sure everyone knows that old people are going to be targets (for crime) from now on."

 

[Expose Them All]

Nice reporting guys, I know it's hard to get images in NZ, especially when the victim is white and the perp is a nigger. Too bad we can't hang this boon ASAP. The only place that I know of that a boon can be strung-up is in Africa. I think that should change, ALL nations need to bring back public nigger lynchings.

 

[Whitebear]

Just got a news alert from Australia.

Apparently a Maori murderer.

Tokoroa murder accused named

Whetu Tehiko

The man charged with the murder of Tokoroa teacher Lois Dear has been named.
Whetu Tehiko, a 23-year-old local man, appeared in court in the town today and was remanded in custody until September 19 when he will face a depositions hearing.
His lawyer Harry Edward did not make any application to have name suppression, which was granted last week, extended.
Tehiko, who is unemployed, kept his head down during this morning's two minute appearance and had his back to the public gallery.
He wore a hooded top tightly pulled over his head after as he was led to court from
the cells.
Members of his family were in court and one woman shouted "Love you, bro" during the hearing. There was no repeat of the angry scenes which accompanied his first court appearance last week.
Mrs Dear's body was found in a classroom at Strathmore School in Tokoroa two weeks ago.
A pre-depositions hearing, which Tehiko will not have to attend, will be held on August 23.

 

[Unregistered]

He's definitely a Maori. His family background shows they're a bunch of society-loving charmers.

One of the accused's brothers is serving a 12-year sentence for the sexual violation and manslaughter of his wife in December 2000.

Two of his uncles have been charged with or convicted of sexual crimes and a cousin has been implicated in the murder of a 15-year-old girl. The cousin said they were the "black sheep of the family".

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3748324a11,00.html
Alleged killer slept by father's grave
30 July 2006

The man accused of murdering Tokoroa teacher Lois Dear had been sleeping in a cemetery beside his father's grave, his cousin says.

The father died last year, and despite the fact the accused, aged 23, had been ill-treated by him as a child, he took the death badly, the cousin
told the Sunday Star-Times.

The accused is one of five brothers and has one sister. His cousin said they had a violent family history.

"(Their father) had a lot of evil in him. My cousins used to come to school and say things like, (the accused) was tied to a tree with a dog chain in the forest all night because he had been bad. That would pretty much make you wacky. His sister always had cigarette burns on her arms. You wouldn't do that to yourself."

She said since the father's death, the accused had been sleeping beside his grave.

The cousin, 24, spent the night before Dear's murder drinking with the accused. Dear, 66, was found bashed to death in her Strathmore Primary School classroom two weeks ago today.

That weekend the cousin, who is from Auckland, had gone back to Tokoroa, where she grew up, to join family members, including the suspect, at an aunt's funeral. Several family members met at the Trees pub later on the Saturday night.

"I only stayed at t
he party for 10 minutes," the cousin said. "When I left he was pretty drunk."

She said her family had been receiving death threats from the public since his arrest.

"He is well hated. A lot of people want to kill him."

The woman said in recent years her cousin had changed.

"The first I heard of his problems was when he got a girlfriend."

That Tokoroa girlfriend was the mother of one of his two young sons born within a month of each other, the cousin said.
2 different girlfriends giving birth within a month? The TNB is exquisite

The other toddler lived with his mother in Australia.

The accused and his cousin attended Atiamuri Primary School and Forest View High School in Tokoroa together. Most of the extended family still lived in Tokoroa or Atiamuri, she said.

At school the accused played rugby league for Forestland Rugby League Club and was heavily involved in kapa haka groups.

"He
was very into his Maori culture," the cousin said. "I have never really seen him with friends, he was quite a loner."
He's a good boy...(Sniff...) He was just getting his life together...
His mother is still living in Tokoroa.

One of the accused's brothers is serving a 12-year sentence for the sexual violation and manslaughter of his wife in December 2000.

Two of his uncles have been charged with or convicted of sexual crimes and a cousin has been implicated in the murder of a 15-year-old girl. The cousin said they were the "black sheep of the family".

"We are quite sick to the stomach about it. My mum has taken it badly, she can't even talk about it without crying."

The Waikato Times reported on Friday that police had made the arrest through the accused's DNA. He had volunteered a sample during a separate police investigation two years ago.

The accused will reappear in Tokoroa District Court to
morrow when his name suppression will be reviewed. His cousin expects emotions to run high.

"There were hundreds waiting outside for him last time, and there will be hundreds waiting outside next time he comes out."

 

[Unregistered]

It looks like the Defence is going hard-out for a psychatric cop-out instead of recognising this vicious crime for what it is - TNB.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3899896a12855,00.html

No murder charge plea disappoints family
14 December 2006

The son of slain Tokoroa schoolteacher Lois Dear is "a little bit disappointed" at further delays in the court process.

Had Whetu Te Hiko, the man charged with the 66-year-old's murder, entered a guilty plea today that "certainly would have been a good Christmas present for us," Kevin McNeil said outside the High Court at Rotorua.

But it was not to be. Te Hiko was expected to formally plead to the charge when he appeared for arraignment this morning. Instead, he was remanded for psychiatric assessment to determine if he is fit to stand trial.

That was not something Mr McNeil and the rest of Lois Dear's family had anticipated.

Her son admitted he had not thought of the possibility that the accused would not be tried over the killing.

"The system is new to us and we just have to take what happens," he said.

"We have got to have faith that justice will be done – and certainly it will be."

The brutally beaten body of the dedicated schoolteacher, mother and grandmother was found on her classroom floor at Strathmore Primary School in Tokoroa about midday on Sunday July 16.

She had been at work preparing for the start of the new term next day.

The family had been dealing with their shocking loss for five months now "and it's going to drag on," said Mr McNeil, who has been determined to travel from his Coromandel home to attend each of Te Hiko's court appearances "for Mum."

He said they believed in the justice system and had been coping "pretty good. We're cruising along, sticking together."

Although he would have Christmas Day off, Mr McNeil said he would be back to work on Boxing Day and over the rest of the holiday season.

There had been "no contact at all" from relatives of the accused since the last call-over at Rotorua in early October. Then, in a surprise move, an older brother of Te Hiko approached an emotional Kevin O'Neil outside the court and expressed condolences.

Eyes brimming with tears, Piri Te Hiko said: "I'm really sorry. She sounded like a real good lady. She taught a lot of my nieces and nephews."

In court today, Justice Paul Heath said he was not prepared yet to accept a plea or indict 23-year-old Whetu Te Hiko on the murder charge after receiving an application for an assessment under the Mentally Impaired Persons Act.

An Auckland consultant psychiatrist, Dr Rees Tapsell, reported that he was having difficulty making an assessment in the prison remand facility of whether Te Hiko was fit to stand trial and wanted to see him in a hospital environment.

Andy Schulze, the lawyer representing the accused on instruction today, said the assessment would not be concerned with Te Hiko's sanity in July.

Justice Heath said he had no hesitation in accepting the recommendation of Dr Tapsell, who was an experienced and respected psychiatrist.

He ordered the accused be detained at the Henry Bennett Centre – the Waikato region's secure mental health unit – for a two-week psychiatric examination from January 15.

Te Hiko would appear in court again on February 23, when the psychiatrist's report would be heard and a plea entered.

On the same day, Justice Heath said he would hear legal arguments from media organisations which had applied to publish the written depositions in the case – something the defence had opposed.

 

[BB-Leo]

'Kiwi Killer' Man pleads guilty to murder of Tokoroa teacher

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10425413

Man pleads guilty to murder of Tokoroa teacher

NEW ZEALAND 2:57PM



Friday February 23, 2007


Juliet Rowan

Whetu Te Hiko admitted killing Lois Dear
A 23-year-old man has this morning pleaded guilty to murdering Tokoroa teacher Lois Dear, who was killed in her classroom last year.
At the High Court at Rotorua, Whetu Te Hiko admitted killing the 66-year-old teacher at Strathmore School in July.
Te Hiko stood in the dock with his head bowed and his hands behind his back, only looking up when the court registrar how he pleaded.
"Guilty, your honour," Te Hiko said in a clear voice.
Ms Dear's family, who were in the court, remained silent but her daughter Jan Armstrong put her head down and was comforted by relatives.
Justice John Wild formally convicted Te Hiko of the crime and remanded him in custody for sentencing on May 4.
As Te Hiko was led from the courtroom, Ms Dear's son Kevin McNeil yelled some abuse at him.
Outside the court later, Mr McNeil said he had a lot of pent up anger which he did not dare release sooner because of the risk of affecting a trial.
He was happy about the guilty plea, which would speed up the justice process.
However, Mr McNeil said he was still "really angry" and added: "We will never get Mum back. It's bloody hard -- a hell of a thing to go through."
Te Hiko had shown Mrs Dear no mercy and her son said he was glad suppression had been lifted allowing publication of the evidence of the case.
"Days like today bring things back. It's a lot to carry on working and bringing up kids."
Mr McNeil said he woke at 3am every day thinking of his mother's horrific last moments.
Mrs Dear's daughter Jan Armstrong said she was "not ecstatic" at the guilty plea because "Mum is still not here".
What she would like to do to the killer "the law doesn't allow".
In the courtroom, the judge held a hearing to decide whether media were entitled to publish evidence from the trial.
At the end of the hour-long hearing Justice Wild ruled publishing the evidence would not breach Te Hiko's right to a fair trial as he had now pleaded guilty.
The media has also been granted permission to publish video statements to Hiko made to the police.
The brutally beaten body of the dedicated schoolteacher, mother and grandmother was found on her classroom floor at Strathmore Primary School in Tokoroa about midday on Sunday July 16.
She had been at work preparing for the start of the new term next day.

 

[Rasp]

Elderly teacher's brutal murder outlined

Elderly teacher's brutal murder outlined

After a night out partying, drunk 23-year-old Whetu Te Hiko was walking home to his caravan in a Tokoroa camping ground when he ended the life of respected primary school teacher Lois Dear, bashing and suffocating the 66 year old.

Details of the random murder became public today after Te Hiko pleaded guilty in the High Court at Rotorua and Justice John Wild lifted suppression orders on the depositions evidence.

Seeing a car pull up and park in the grounds of Strathmore Primary School on the morning of Sunday July 16 last year – the day before the new term was to start – Te Hiko tried the doors to the vehicle. But they were locked and, as he dithered about, Mrs Dear came out of her classroom.

"She screamed. She said she was going to call the cops," Te Hiko said according to the transcript of a videotaped interview with police eight days after the killing. Initially, he had doggedly maintained he had nothing to do with the killing.

"I quickly ran toward the door, told her to calm down, don't need to call the cops, ah I'll just go home," he said.

"Drunk, wasted" and scared of going to jail, he overpowered the struggling woman who was trying to scratch him.

"I put her to the floor and then her shoes came off.

"She was still struggling and I grabbed her by the hair, told her to shush and she didn't be quiet. I said I don't wanna hurt you. I just want your car."

Mrs Dear kept screaming. Te Hiko said he thought he must have put her jersey over her face and then held it there.

"She just stopped breathing and that was not supposed to happen."

He told the police interviewer how he then took off his tee shirt and shoes, walked into the toilets and wet his shirt before going back to the classroom and wiping everything down to try and avoid being traced to the crime scene.

"I didn't want to kill her, didn't have any intention," he said, often mumbling and stumbling over answers to questions.

"I used so much force that she just knocked out. If I remember correctly, I gave one kick to her head, yeah, one kick, just one."

He tried to cover the body with a plastic cloth from a little table in the classroom and took Mrs Dear's car keys from her desk.

"I do remember saying sorry to her when I left. I did, I said sorry I didn't mean to kill you. I didn't want to."

Te Hiko told the interviewing detective that he panicked when the teacher was going to ring the police and then kept screaming.

When he abandoned her car later, he intended to "blow it up" to destroy evidence, but "I couldn't get the lighter going."

Te Hiko was arraigned when he appeared in court today, after having undergone a psychiatric assessment to determine if he was fit to stand trial.

Boyish-looking, he hung his head for most of his brief appearance in the dock.

The only time Te Hiko looked up at the judge was when he was asked to enter a plea to the murder charge.

"Guilty," he said quietly, then his chin sank toward his chest again.

While family members and friends of Mrs Dear welcomed the fact that there would be no need for a trial, two supporters of Te Hiko -believed to be a sister and brother who had sat quietly in the public gallery of the courtroom – hurried away afterward, declining to comment to reporters.

Te Hiko was convicted of murder and remanded in custody for sentencing on May 4.

The coronial autopsy report released today found that Lois Dear was smothered by force. She suffered head injuries, a broken nose, extensive bruising and lacerations to the face, black eyes, fractured ribs and bruises to her hands.

Pathologist Lloyd Denmark from Auckland Hospital said the pattern of injury was consistent with blows from a fist to the face. Asphyxiation was due to closure of the mouth and nose (smothering), by forcible pressure.

 

[William of the White Hand]

Sexual element in teacher's killing, judge finds

Friday May 18, 2007
By Juliet Rowan

A judge sentencing the man who killed Tokoroa teacher Lois Dear has found there was a sexual element to the murder.

Whetu Te Hiko was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years today.

He killed Ms Dear, 66, in her Strathmore School classroom on July 16.

The Crown argued there was a sexual element to the killing, but this was disputed by the defence, which said that could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt by the forensic evidence.

The High Court at Hamilton heard how Te Hiko bashed and suffocated Ms Dear, a new entrants' teacher, as she prepared for the first day of term the next day.

Ms Dear's trousers had been removed and her underwear lowered when her body was found. Her top had also bee
n lifted to expose her bra.

Justice Lester Chisholm dismissed Te Hiko's claims that her clothing had come off in the course of the struggle.

"I'm satisfied there was a sexual dimension. I don't think it existed initially but I'm sure that it did develop during the course of the attack in the schoolroom."


Advertisement

AdvertisementFamily in court

Ms Dear's family were sitting in the public gallery and one gave a quiet clap when the judge made his ruling.

Her son Kevin McNeil, daughter Jan Armstrong, and brother Harley Dear were allowed to read victim impact statements to the court.

Earlier, Mr McNeil had been told by police his statement might not be allowed by the court because of statements directed at Te Hiko and the justice system, but Mr McNeil was allowed to read it unchanged.

Te Hiko covered his ears with his hands as Mr McNeil told him he was "pathetic, gutless and dumb".

"I know that our family life will never be the same because
of the completely senseless act of undue violence that you committed on my Mum," Mr McNeil said.

He said the thought of his mother's last few traumatic moments would never leave his mind.

"We will never know why," said the 42-year-old.

"Like you," he told Te Hiko, "we have young children. They now have no grandmother."

Ms Dear's niece, Theresa Moore, also read a statement on behalf of Ms Dear's 95-year-old father, Harley.

Mr Dear snr's statement said of Te Hiko: "I hope they skin him alive. A life for a life."

Justice Chisholm said Ms Dear was much loved by her family, school, friends and the wider Tokoroa community.

"It's patently obvious that she was a kind and wonderful person who would not have harmed anyone."

Te Hiko would have heard the impact of his crime when Ms Dear's family read out their statements.

"It's little wonder that there has been unbridled anger at this cowardly and evil killing," the judge said.

Te Hiko had blam
ed alcohol for his actions, but the judge dismissed his excuse.

"All too often alcohol and drugs are blamed for violent offending. They offer no excuse and I can tell you Mr Te Hiko, they will not avail you of one iota of this sentence."

The ferocity of the attack had been evident by the photographs of the crime scene, the judge said.

Ms Dear died of asphyxia and a pathologist's report found she was subjected to blunt force trauma to the head and chest. Her injuries included a broken nose and ribs.

The judge suppressed some of the information relating to the state in which her body was found, ruling it was not in the public interest.

He was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that there was a sexual element to the crime after studying the photos, pathologist's report and forensic evidence.

In the two years before the murder, Te Hiko wracked up eight convictions for violence against women and children.

He had convictions for male assaults female, assault of a ch
ild, and threatening to kill which stemmed out of four incidents, the first in June 2004

The judge said Te Hiko clearly had "an unhappy past" but this was not excuse.

"Overall, I doubt that you've got very much insight into this killing, even at this stage," the judge said to Te Hiko.

Te Hiko's appearance had changed from earlier times in the dock.

His head was shaved, exposing scars on his head, which he touched as he sat with his head bowed low and resting in his hands as the Dear family read their victim impact statements.

He appeared angry when his lawyer, Harry Edward, told the judge Te Hiko was not a sophisticated writer but had handed him a letter expressing remorse and asked him to convey the details to the court.

Mr Edward read part of the letter, which said: "My remorse for what I've done is complete in thousands."

Mr Edward paraphrased the rest, saying Te Hiko still failed to understand how he caused the death of "an innocent teacher".

Te H
iko continued to stare angrily at Mr Edward when the judge asked him to stand for sentence to be passed.

Mr Edward and Crown prosecutor Fletcher Pilditch had both agreed the sentence should be life.

When Te Hiko stood, he put his hands in his pockets and appeared almost to smirk, but sighed after the judge said: "I now sentence you to life imprisonment."

The judge said aggravating features of the murder included the "extreme brutality, callousness and depravity of the attack", and the fact there was a sexual dimension and the victim was "an elderly and vulnerable female".

The fact the murder took place in a school room, which was meant to be a safe place, and that the impact of the crime had gone beyond Ms Dear's family, affecting the school and wider community, were also aggravating features.

Te Hiko's record of violence, particularly against women, also counted against him.

Mitigating features in his favour were that he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity a
nd cooperated with police.

Without those mitigating features, the judge said he would have imposed a sentence of 20 to 21 years, but he said a discount of between two to three years was appropriate for Te Hiko's guilty plea.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10440433

 

[Unregistered]

Our Chimp of the moment and his family have quite a History of attacking Women and Kids. More proof of a Genetic rather than upbringing basis for offending?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10440588

Te Hiko had record of bashing women
Email this storyPrint this story 5:00AM Saturday May 19, 2007
By Juliet Rowan and Stuart Dye

Rangi (left) and Piri Te Hiko leave court after their brother was sentenced. Photo / Alan Gibson

Whetu Te Hiko had a history of violence towards women and children. The 23-year-old had 13 convictions before he murdered Lois Dear.

Eight were for assaulting women and children in 10 months, from April 2004 to February 2005.

The father of two young sons, Te Hik
o has already spent time behind bars for assaulting the mother of one of those boys.

Justice Lester Chisholm said the "past record of violence against women" was one of several aggravating features.

The judge accepted that Te Hiko had had an "unhappy past" and that he was not of "sophisticated" intelligence. His brother, Hamuera, the second eldest of the six Te Hiko siblings, is also in jail for killing a woman - his wife - in 2001.

"I doubt that you have very much insight into this killing even at this stage," the judge said.

Te Hiko, who was employed as a forestry worker at the time of Ms Dear's murder, spent most of the sentencing with his head bowed.

He asked his lawyer, Harry Edward, to read out a letter on his behalf.

It said: "My remorse for what I've done is complete in the thousands."
Oh, really? Your actions during sentencing say otherwise, as always. See below.

He also acknowledged he failed to understand how his actions ha
d resulted in the death of "an innocent teacher".

Te Hiko's sister Rangi spoke to the Weekend Herald in November, three weeks after his first appearance in the High Court at Rotorua.

She denied she and her siblings had a violent upbringing, despite claims by a cousin that their father used to chain Whetu to a tree as punishment and send Rangi to school with cigarette burns on her arms.

"That's not true. He [the father] never went to the extreme. I never, ever went anywhere with bruises on me ... It's not like he whacked us because he hated us."

She said her brother went to primary school in Atiamuri, then Forest View Intermediate in Tokoroa and Taupo-nui-a-Tia College.

He showed some talent for music and kapa haka and liked rugby league. He quit school after getting a part-time job at Tokoroa New World and began working in forestry in May last year.

Ms Te Hiko said she would continue to support her brother, but admitted her anger at him.

At his first court a
ppearance several hundred angry Tokoroa locals gathered outside the court and yelled for the killer to be given "the rope".

Ms Te Hiko still did not know that the man, handcuffed and clad head to toe in a white boilersuit, was her brother until she saw him in the dock. "You stupid c***," she yelled through sobs.

She and other family members had discussed Ms Dear's violent death and condemned the person responsible.

"We were like, 'Whoa, how could somebody do this to an old lady?' We cursed this person."

They thought an appropriate punishment would be to tie the killer to the town clock and let the public bash him.

Ms Te Hiko said that when she found out the killer was her younger brother she was "real angry".


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10440584

Lois Dear's son got his wish to express his feelings to his mother's killer yesterday. But as Kevin McNeil read his victim impact statement, the killer
, Whetu Te Hiko, slumped in the dock and covered his ears with his hands.

"I think I got a bit of a win there," Mr McNeil said outside the High Court at Hamilton, referring to the battle he had endured after being originally told he would have to tone the statement down.

He said Te Hiko would have heard the impact of his crime when Ms Dear's family read out their statements.

"It's little wonder that there has been unbridled anger at this cowardly and evil killing," the judge said.

"The ferocity of the attack on her is self-evident from the photographs I have seen."

When Te Hiko stood to be sentenced, he put his hands in his pockets and appeared almost to smirk, but sighed after the judge said: "I now sentence you to life imprisonment."

 

[William of the White Hand]

When Te Hiko stood to be sentenced, he put his hands in his pockets and appeared almost to smirk, but sighed after the judge said: "I now sentence you to life imprisonment."

I'm not fan of these victim impact statements. While the intention is otherwise I'm not sure they have any impact at all on these psychotic brindled buggers - to them it is all just a joke. It sorts of just highlights the loser victim.

 

[Unregistered]

Maoris support Murderer of White teacher, issue Death threats to outspoken son.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4067726a11.html

Murder victim's son gets death threats
By MIKE WATSON and OSKAR ALLEY - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 22 May 2007

WARNING: Kevin MacNeill has been dogged by malicious calls to both his cellphone and his home phone - including three death threats on separate occasions.

The son of murdered Tokoroa teacher Lois Dear has revealed police are investigating death threats against him - including two calls thought to have been made from prison.

Kevin McNeil confirmed to The Dominion Post that he has been dogged by malicious calls to both his cellphone and his home phone - including three death threats on separate occasions. He has reported the threats to Telecom and local police.

nThe first death threats were received on his cellphone within weeks of his mother's murder in July. The anonymous calls continued for six months but were difficult to trace because they were made from pre-paid cellphones which had caller identity details blocked.

Mr McNeil said he had been advised that two of the death threats had come from inside a prison. It highlighted how sentenced criminals could flout prison rules.

"I don't give a ****, really, about them or what people think of what I say," he said. "I speak my mind."

Mr McNeil, who has upgraded his home security, described some of the hate calls as "really pathetic and dumb".

Mr McNeil has gained national prominence for demanding the justice system honour his slain mother's memory and hold her killer accountable.

He refused to bow to pressure to tone down his victim impact statement - which he read to the High Court at Hamilton on Friday - as Whetu Te Hiko was jailed for at least 18 years.

Te Hiko, 2
3, had attacked Mr McNeil's mother in her Tokoroa classroom. He beat and suffocated the 66-year-old, pulling down her underwear before he fled.

Mr McNeil said he received the first malicious call just a month after the murder. Anonymous messages had also been left on his home phone in February after a newspaper quoted him as saying he wanted retribution for his mother's murder, and for Te Hiko to "swing off the biggest tree". One caller told him to "watch your step" and "watch your back".

Other anonymous messages included threats to "take him out" and that his "days were numbered".

Since Friday's sentencing, however, he had also received hundreds of text messages and e-mails supporting his stance.

"I was only trying to help other victims.

"There's always someone around who will disagree with you, someone willing to knock you down, no matter how much good you try to do."

Mr McNeil said Telecom had told him it was unable to identify the callers, while police h
ad traced some to an unused Auckland telephone number.

Detective Inspector Garth Bryan, who headed the murder inquiry, said he was unaware of the anonymous calls. He would seek answers on whether reports were completed and investigate.

"Obviously we know prisoners have cellphones which are prohibited in prisons."

The number of phones found in prisons has quadrupled in two years, from 250 in 2003 to 1047 cellphones, chargers or Sim cards confiscated in 2005.

Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said it was disgraceful that a murder victim's son could be threatened for speaking out on victims' rights.

"Kevin is a decent Kiwi bloke who's showed enormous courage by demanding that his mother receive justice. To get death threats when you've already had your mother taken from you would wreak merry hell on anybody."

The Corrections Department's assistant general manager of public prisons, Bryan McMurray, said Mr McNeil had not approached the departmen
t.

"We would urge him to do so, so that we may urgently investigate the allegations and work with police to resolve the matter."