A killer’s words on remorse
A former gang member who ordered the assassination of a police witness has shared his thoughts about the murder for the first time, along with his experiences of life inside and out of prison.
Brownie Mane, one of four men convicted for the 1996 killing of New Plymouth man Christopher Crean, posted about his life on the Maori Prison Support Services’ Facebook page. After receiving life imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole term of 17 years, Mane was paroled in July 2015.
Mane was vice-president of the New Plymouth chapter of Taranaki Black Power and issued the order to kill Crean, in order to prevent him from giving evidence against the gang.
In his February 9 post, Mane described Crean as ‘‘an innocent man whose only so-called crime was that he testified against myself and 2 others for a violent attack on a rival gang member in 1996 [sic]’’.
He said the 19 years he spent behind bars for his crime were ‘‘nothing’’ compared to what the Crean family had been through.
‘‘I can only imagine that their pain and hurt is still very raw and that it must only feel like yesterday for them that this devastating event took place [sic],’’ he wrote.
Mane went onto to say there was ‘‘no amount of apologies i can every say to compensate this family for what i did [sic]‘‘.
‘‘I can never wipe up all the tears that have fallen by this family for their loved one so i will never be seeking forgiveness for what ive done but i will try my hardest to inform others about the devastating effects these types of crimes have on innocent victims so as to try and prevent another family from going through what this whanau is going through [sic],’’ he said.
For some of his sentence, Mane spent time in Auckland’s Paremoremo maximum security unit ‘‘with what many would call the worst of the worst’’.
He said it was not a place for the ‘‘faint hearted’’ and inmates who showed any sign of fear or weakness would fall victim to sexual, physical or mental abuse.
Mane said the violence behind bars included stabbings, rapes and gang brawls.
In 2004, he said he helped develop a programme to let young people know what it was really like behind bars and during the last 10 years of his sentence, spent at Ngawha prison in Kaikohe, he studied and gained some qualifications.
In the post, he also referred to his time in the gang and said he ‘‘served the Black Power well’’ taking part in violent offending when required, showing no mercy to his victims and not co-operating with police in any way.
But life was different for him now, he maintained.
He was no longer in the gang, and didn’t drink, smoke or do drugs.
‘‘I can never change what ive done however i can change what im going to do with what life i have left so im not afraid to say that i live a pro social life now without committing any crimes [sic],’’ Mane said.
Three others, Symon George Manihera, Robert Shane Maru and Denis Luke were also jailed for Crean’s murder. Of the trio, Manihera is on parole while the other two remain in prison.
Last year on her blog Crean’s daughter Stephanie forgave the men involved in her father’s death. The post coincided with the airing of a televised drama about the murder.
‘‘I forgive you, not because what you did in murdering my father was right, because that was not right,’’ she wrote.
‘‘I forgive you even though there was mention of shooting me only at the age of two. I forgive you so that you may have peace and I too. So that our families may have peace, and so that the community may have peace also. So that the nation may have peace, because that is what is right.
‘‘I believe that with justice comes peace. Whether or not you are changed men, I forgive you.’’
"Because even though its nearly been 22 years since this crime happened I can only imagine that their pain and hurt is still very raw and that it must only feel like yesterday for them that this devastating event took place."
Brownie Mane