Malcolm Rewa jailed for life
A soft round of applause was the last thing serial rapist and murderer Malcolm Rewa heard before he was led into the cells to begin his life sentence.
Rewa broke into Susan Burdett’s Papatoetoe home in 1992, attacked her and raped her before using her own baseball bat to bludgeon her to death.
The 66-year-old is already serving a sentence of preventive detention with a minimum nonparole period of 22 years for rape and sexual attacks on 25 women, including Burdett.
High Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Venning described Rewa as a ‘‘manipulative and controlling person’’ who continued to pose a danger to the community.
Justice Venning said Rewa’s previous offending had been described by a High Court judge in 1998 as a ‘‘chronicle of remorseless, depraved and destructive cruelty’’. He told Rewa the evidence against him for Burdett’s murder was overwhelming.
The judge said the jury rejected Rewa’s evidence that he had been having a secret affair with Burdett. ‘‘By advancing that story, you inflicted a further injustice and indignity on Ms Burdett and her memory.’’
He said Rewa’s refusal to accept responsibility had hung over the Burdett family for 27 years.
Two previous juries in 1998 failed to reach a verdict on the murder charge. But Rewa was found guilty of Burdett’s death at his third trial last month.
Justice Venning said Rewa had taken advantage of the false confession of Teina Pora at his first two trials. Pora spent more than two decades in prison for Burdett’s murder before his conviction was quashed by the Privy Council.
Rewa had also wrongfully accused Burdett’s son, Dallas McKay, of the murder during the trial, on account of McKay receiving a life insurance payout.
The judge said it had been a particularly brutal attack on Burdett, who was raped and murdered in her own home – a place she deserved to feel safe.
‘‘I have seen no indication of remorse whatsoever for Ms Burdett’s death,’’ he told Rewa.
‘‘Even at the age of 66, I see you as a manipulative and controlling person who continues to be a danger to the community.’’
The judge said it would be for the New Zealand Parole Board to decide if Rewa should ever be let out of prison.
Crown prosecutor Gareth Kayes argued for life in prison but said there was no ability for the court to impose a minimum non-parole period because the law didn’t allow for it in 1992. SAGA FINALLY OVER