My son’s ‘not a monster’

Tony Robertson’s mother continues to believe her son did not murder and rape Blessie Gotingco.

Maria McWatters, 45, who lives in Western Australia, said she could not believe Robertson, 28, could commit such terrible crimes.

‘‘He’s not a monster. He’s not what they’re making him out to be,’’ McWatters said.

‘‘He’s told us it’s an accident and we believe him . . . It’s just not Tony, it’s not what he would do.

‘‘Everyone else seems to believe he’s capable of doing that stuff but I just can’t believe it. He hates seeing people hurt.

‘‘If you took the time to get to know him, you’d know.’’

Robertson, 28, was unmasked as Gotingco’s killer after name suppression finally lapsed on Tuesday afternoon.

When he ran down Gotingco with his car, then raped and murdered her in May last year, Robertson was subject to 13 strict release conditions.

He breached the release conditions twice within months of being out of jail – but by May last year was still at large in the community.

Corrections northern regional commissioner Jeanette Burns said the department had done everything possible to ensure Robertson was monitored properly.

‘‘We did manage this offender as well as we possibly could with all of the tools that were available to us. He was released on conditions and we were monitoring those conditions very carefully, in some cases over and above the required standard.’’

Suggestions from a spokeswoman for Gotingco’s family that Robertson should have been monitored by an armed guard was not a legally available option.

‘‘We were working within the legislation that was available and we did increase the number of visits . . . As well as having him reporting to the centre, we visited him at agreed times. We also visited him randomly,’’ Burns told Radio NZ.