Son’s freed killer not welcome back in town
The parents of a man killed by a promising sportswoman say she is not welcome back in Masterton on her release from prison.
Diamond Orupe, 23, was sentenced to 26 months’ jail in 2009 after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Koria Matiaha.
Orupe will be released next month after serving the whole of her sentence.
At her Wellington trial the court was told how she knocked Mr Matiaha unconscious after an argument at a party in Masterton, then straddled him, punching him in the head as he lay on the ground. He died in hospital from a brain haemorrhage.
Mr Matiaha’s parents, Cyril and Bella Matiaha, told Fairfax they had not forgiven Orupe for her crime.
‘‘We don’t want any apologies either. It’s too late for that,’’ Mrs Matiaha said.
‘‘My son is gone now and I can’t bring him back, I would if I could. We’ve only got memories now.’’
She said she did not want to see Orupe again. ‘‘They told me that she was coming out, I didn’t have anything to say.
‘‘There’s no use leaving her there because of what she’s done, She’s done her time now. ‘‘But I don’t want her in Masterton, and I don’t think she would be very welcome here.’’
Mr Matiaha said he still clearly remembered the night his 25-year-old son was beaten.
‘‘I was just watching TV and the next thing he’s lying out there on the lawn. You don’t forget that.’’
Orupe was considered a promising sportswoman, with her trial judge saying she could have achieved high honours in athletics.
She appeared at a Parole Board hearing last month, where conditions were set for her release. They include psychological counselling, a drug and alcohol assessment, not contacting her victim’s family, and residing at a house approved by the Probation Service. That address is yet to be decided.