Killer’s non-parole term extended
A murderer who slashed a woman’s throat while her young daughter was in the house will wait an additional two years before he is considered for parole.
The Court of Appeal, acting on an appeal by the Crown, has increased Paul Andrew Gottermeyer’s non-parole period from 10 to 12 years.
The court’s decision, released yesterday, found the 10-year nonparole period imposed by Justice John Fogarty in October was ‘‘manifestly inadequate’’.
Gottermeyer had already been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The 24-year-old victim was at her Burwood flat with her threeyear-old daughter when Gottermeyer, 30, a market gardener from Kaiapoi, arrived on July 11, 2012. Gottermeyer was under treatment for depression. He had been discharged from Hillmorton Hospital but did not continue taking his medication.
He and the woman argued before he produced a knife and be- gan the attack in the kitchen.
The victim’s body showed evidence of 12 wounds to her head, throat, chest, back and hands.
Afterwards, Gottermeyer hugged the three-year-old girl and left her a glass of water, a mandarin and some biscuits in the lounge.
He shut the door to the kitchen so she could not go in and see her dead mother.
The woman’s body was found when her partner came home later that morning to check why she was not at work. He found the girl crying and upset.
Gottermeyer pleaded guilty to murder. The Crown called the killing ‘‘callous and cruel’’.
The victim’s father, who cannot be named, learned of the decision yesterday.
‘‘No sentence will ever be long enough for our family, nor can it take away our pain and heartbreak which is with us every day,’’ he said. ‘‘We are thankful to the Crown for successfully appealing the ruling.’’
The Crown asked for 13 to 14 years’ non-parole based on premeditation and the victim’s vulnerability, the Court of Appeal decision said.
Mitigating factors included Gottermeyer’s guilty plea, remorse, absence of any previous criminal convictions and his mental health issues, it said.