Murderer’s sentence upheld
The man who killed a Christchurch sex worker before setting her body on fire has failed to get his minimum prison sentence of 18 years reduced.
Sainey Marong appealed his sentence in the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the sentencing judge, Justice Cameron Mander, erred in his findings when he imposed the minimum period of imprisonment.
Marong previously tried to appeal against his conviction, but was unsuccessful. Marong strangled Renee Duckmanton and set fire to her body on the side of a road near Rakaia in May 2016. During his trial, the court heard he had been fixated on the idea of abducting and killing a Christchurch sex worker.
Marong searched the internet for information on previous murders of Christchurch prostitutes, chemicals used by kidnappers, where to get chloroform, and ‘‘how to kidnap a girl’’. He accessed sites about how to kill with bare hands and dozens of videos depicting necrophilia.
Marong was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2018 and ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years behind bars before he could become eligible for parole.
Justice Mander found Marong’s offending justified more than 17 years in prison because it involved calculated planning, was committed with a high level of brutality, cruelty, depravity, or callousness, and because the victim was particularly vulnerable.
Marong’s defence counsel, Craig Ruane, told the Appeal Court factors such as callousness and depravity, and the vulnerability of the victim, had been overstated. He argued
Marong’s actions before the murder did not take the case beyond the seriousness of an ‘‘ordinary’’ murder, and setting fire to the body did not make the killing more depraved.
The slightly-built Duckmanton’s movement was limited on one side due to cerebral palsy, although it was not clear whether that would have been apparent to Marong, he said.
Marong’s attitude to women and prostitutes, who he described as being like the meat he saw in his work as a butcher, showed a lack of empathy.
For the Crown, Sean Mallett said Marong’s internet searches before the murder show he was focused on killing a Christchurch prostitute and how he could avoid detection. It was calculated and lengthy planning.
He said Marong’s conduct before, during and after the murder displayed a high level of callousness. While Marong may not have been aware of Duckmanton’s cerebral palsy, her occupation as a sex worker, her slight stature and her agreement to get into Marong’s car, made her particularly vulnerable, Mallett argued.
The Court of Appeal found Justice Mander’s sentence was appropriate.