Oz Tinder killer’s jealousy grew in NZ
Court case exposes dark reality behind image of idyllic NZ life, writes Bevan Hurley. ‘Dumb’ warning as rain ends weekend
TINDER killer Alexander Villaluna began a campaign of ‘‘extreme domestic violence’’ towards his wife while they were training as nurses in New Zealand, court documents show.
Villaluna came across estranged wife Jovi Pilapil dining with her Tinder date Keith Collins at a restaurant in Sydney in March 2016, and stabbed both of them in a ‘‘deliberate and methodical’’ fashion.
He stabbed Collins until he fell to the ground while whispering in his ear ‘‘What are you doing with my wife?’’, then meted out the same treatment to Pilapil until she fled the restaurant, before bringing the knife back down to his first victim to finish him off.
In the New South Wales Supreme Court last week, Justice Robert Beech-Jones sentenced Villaluna to 40 years in prison for murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The judge said the 46-yearold had decided he would ‘‘kill any man that he thought showed a romantic interest in his ex-partner’’.
Villaluna, originally from the Philippines, moved to New Zealand in 2003 and met Pilapil in 2007 when they were both studying nursing. They married and Pilapil gave birth to a son in 2011. Pilapil also had three children from an earlier marriage.
They lived between the Hutt Valley and Auckland. A Tenancy Tribunal ruling shows Pilapil was ordered to pay $1050 in rent arrears after moving out of a home in Fergusson Drive, Upper Hutt, in 2008.
Pilapil’s social media accounts from that time show a happy life, at least on the outside. She proudly displays a photo of plums grown in her backyard, and a picture of her with her son during a Skype conversation with ‘‘Papa Alex’’.
However, Villaluna had already begun controlling his wife and showing glimpses of the extreme violence he would mete out at the Kangnam BBQ restaurant in North Sydney a few years later.
Villaluna was ‘‘very possessive and jealous’’ towards Pilapil and she ‘‘had few friends and rarely went out during their relationship’’, according to sentencing notes from Justice Beech-Jones.
Pilapil was subject to ‘‘verbal abuse’’ and ‘‘physical assaults’’ that included choking and punches. Villaluna also threatened to kill Pilapil if she ever started another relationship.
In 2013, the family moved to Australia with Pilapil’s three teenage children.
She eventually managed to break free from the cycle of violence and took out an ‘‘apprehended violence order’’, similar to a restraining order.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Villaluna had bought a hunting knife and camouflage from Surplus City in Parramatta three weeks before the attack, and warned Pilapil that she was lucky he was ‘‘letting (her) breathe’’. ‘‘Please don’t force me,’’ he said in an email.
But on the day of the attack he discovered that she was neither at home or at work. When he found her car at Hornsby Westfield he parked beside it and went looking for her through the mall.
CCTV footage played to the court showed Villaluna repeatedly thrusting a knife into Collins, a father of four and stepfather to three children.
‘‘Of all the cowardly and pitiless acts that the offender committed on this day, his actions in returning to finish off a dying man on the ground were the most heinous,’’ Justice BeechJones said.
New Zealand-based friends of Villaluna’s were reluctant to talk about what had happened.
Of all the cowardly and pitiless acts that the offender committed on this day, his actions in returning to finish off a dying man on the ground were the most heinous.’
HEAVY downpours are expected in many parts of the country just as motorists head home from the long weekend, prompting police to issue a stark warning: ‘‘the consequences of dumb things is death’’.
The Labour Weekend road toll stood at two last night, with a third person in a critical condition after a motorcycle crash in West Auckland during the afternoon.
Jaimey Leigh Fellows, 32, died in a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 1, near Burnham, south of Christchurch, shortly after midnight yesterday.
Her Nelson-based mother Michelle Edwards paid tribute to her daughter as a ‘‘very authentic, genuine, heartfelt’’ woman who was passionate about kapa haka and supporting wheelchair rugby.
Fellows had ‘‘been in humanitarian work most of her life’’ and was working with highrisk youth at Presbyterian Support Services.
She was heavily involved with wheelchair rugby in Canterbury, and had travelled overseas as a support person for the Wheel Blacks, including trips to Europe and South Africa.
‘‘I know the wheelchair rugby team, they love her,’’ Edwards said.
Fellows performed with the tautahi-based Te Pao a Tahu kapa haka group, which she loved. ‘‘Our family are really grateful to all the support the kapa haka group have given Jaimey,’’ Edwards said.
The vehicle’s driver, a 35-yearold man understood to be Fellows’ partner, was seriously injured in the crash.
A 47-year-old woman was also killed in a motorcycle crash near Turangi yesterday morning.
MetService meteorologist Sarah Haddon said drivers across the country would experience rain tomorrow, with the biggest downpours expected for key holiday travel spots Auckland, Northland and the Bay of Plenty.
‘‘That’s definitely something to consider when travelling home.’’
Superintendent Steve Greally said he ‘‘wouldn’t hold my breath’’ for a lower toll this year.
‘‘People do dumb things and unfortunately on roads the consequences of dumb things is death.’’