Workplace says it was not told of rape

The workplace that employed a killer knew about his murder but wasn’t told he raped his victim or about the potential risks to female staff, a coroner has been told.

Paul Pounamu Tainui, who changed his name from Paul Russell Wilson, was on parole for the 1994 murder of his girlfriend, 21-year-old Kimberley Schroder, when he raped and murdered 27-year-old Nicole Tuxford at her Christchurch home.

Kim’s father, Gary Schroder, could not take it when he heard Tainui killed another young woman, and died of a suspected suicide three days later on April 10, 2018.

The workplace that employed both Tainui and Tuxford at the time he killed her didn’t tell staff about his previous conviction to ‘‘let them get to know him first’’, a director of the company said at the inquest into Tuxford’s and Gary Schroder’s deaths yesterday.

The workplace has a permanent suppression order, meaning it can never be named.

Its directors knew Tainui was on life parole for murder but Corrections gave them no other details, including that he raped his victim and his associated risk to females because of this, she said.

‘‘I don’t recall being told anything specific about his offending to keep an eye out for.’’

They knew the basic facts of his case and heard rumours about the extent of it, but at no time were told of his specific risks, especially with becoming involved with young women, the inquest heard.

‘‘Were you ever told about his risk with entering into an intimate relationship?’’ Nikki Pender, counsel for the families, asked. ‘‘No,’’ the director replied. She said they chose not to tell staff about Tainui’s murder conviction after discussing it with him.

‘‘He had issues with people finding out at a previous workplace, so we discussed that to help him, we wouldn’t tell anyone about his offending.’’

The director could not recall a phone call with Corrections in the early stages of Tainui’s employment marked as ‘‘Paul’s Employment Safety Plan’’ in his probation file. She was named as the person who was involved on the call.

‘‘Were you concerned about him hanging around young women at work?’’ Mark Zarifeh, lawyer for Corrections, asked the director.

‘‘No, I had no concerns about that risk at that time.’’

The employers warned Tainui about going to Tuxford’s home to do electrical work and the inappropriate nature of this, but did not notify Corrections that he was overstepping with a female colleague.

Instead, they alerted Corrections to a ‘‘conflict at work’’ but did not raise any serious concerns.

‘‘I don’t recall at any time feeling there was a risk factor.’’

The director never observed any flirting or overstepping from Tainui to Tuxford, she said.

‘‘We were more concerned that he adhere to his parole conditions.’’

They did their own research about his case, but were only able to find details about his link to David Bain. Staff only became aware of Tainui’s conviction after an article about him being Bain’s groomsman was published.

Bain was accused of killing his family and the pair met while in prison. Bain was acquitted after a retrial.

A full staff meeting at Tainui’s work was then held and they were told he was being given a ‘‘second chance’’.

The inquest is expected to last two weeks.