Convicted killer’s startling revelation
Sitting inside a booze bus more than three times over the limit, convicted murderer Paul Pounamu Tainui made a startling revelation to police.
He didn’t want to shock them, but he had two knives in his car.
Tainui, born Paul Russell Wilson, was on parole for the 1994 murder of his girlfriend, 21-year-old Kimberley Schroder, when he was caught drinkdriving on April 6, 2018.
Shortly after leaving the booze bus, he got a taxi to 27-year-old Nicole Tuxford’s Merivale property and lay in wait overnight to rape and murder her when she arrived home about 8am.
Wilson, now 55, was sentenced last month to life imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of 28 years.
The Press has obtained, under the Official Information Act, a copy of the statements made by the two officers who dealt with Tainui the night before he killed Tuxford. The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) is investigating the officers’ actions after a complaint was laid. Both officers’ names are redacted in the documents released to
The Press.
Officer A was part of a team of 11 who started an alcohol checkpoint on Bealey Ave, between Madras and Manchester streets, about 9.45pm on April 6 last year.
A short while later, he noticed a car stop at some nearby traffic lights, then slowly reverse against the traffic. The driver pulled into a parking bay about 20 to 30 metres down the road.
‘‘I tapped on the window to get the driver’s attention . . . I formed the impression that he was purposely not looking at me,’’ Officer A later told police.
When asked why he had reversed his car, Tainui said he needed to ‘‘park up’’.
He admitted he’d had a couple of drinks and an initial drink-driving test showed there was alcohol in his system.
The officer said he could smell alcohol, but it was ‘‘not particularly strong’’.
He questioned Tainui about his name – Pounamu Tainui – as he was familiar with the greenstone-carving family of the same name on the West Coast.
‘‘Tainui said something similar to ‘Yea, that’s the family. I don’t have a lot to with them’,’’ the officer said.
He then checked Tainui on the National Intelligence Application and saw an alert on his profile.
‘‘I checked Tainui’s release conditions to ensure he was not in breach of any of them,’’ the officer told police.
He noticed Tainui would stand up every time he had to sign the breath and blood alcohol procedure sheet, then would sit back down afterwards.
‘‘I just recall thinking it was unusual at the time.’’
At 10.32pm, the officer told Tainui he had blown a positive evidential result of 614 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, nearly three times the legal limit. The news did not appear to surprise him.
‘‘Tainui was compliant throughout the procedure and I’d describe him as easy to get along with, quite personable.’’
The officer asked Tainui why he had been driving. ‘‘He said, ‘I am going home. I am going to a friend’s place on Manchester St’.’’ He said he had been drinking at a bar on Bealey Ave.
‘‘He said that his boss would be pissed off and then went on to say, ‘Lucky I don’t have work tomorrow’.’’
After having his photograph taken and fingerprints done, the officer told Tainui his car key would be held at the Christchurch Central Police Station for
‘‘I recall thinking Tainui appeared to be fairly secretive or sketchy in what he was doing. He looked as though he was concealing . . . items in his puffer jacket.’’
12 hours. ‘‘We had a general discussion during which Tainui said, ‘I’m f...ed. That was dumb’. I didn’t think much of it, however, in hindsight that was the only time his demeanour changed throughout the process. It was the only time he had sworn.’’
Then came a question that made the officer anxious – Tainui wanted to know if he could get a jacket, a cellphone, a can of petrol and some knives from his car.
The officer had checked Tainui’s criminal history earlier and discovered his previous murder involved a ‘‘stabbing/cutting weapon’’.
‘‘So upon hearing Tainui mention knives I became concerned. I explained to him that it was an offence to carry knives in a public place,’’ the officer said. ‘‘I asked him why he needed the knives and he said that he needed them for work. I told him that I would be happier if they remained in the car. I said to him, ‘Considering your criminal history, that is not a good idea’. He accepted this. I explained that I would prefer if the knives were put under the seat or into the boot of the car. He agreed.’’
The officer shone his torch into the car as Wilson leaned into the passenger’s side door. ‘‘I became anxious. I recall thinking that I needed to exercise caution.
‘‘I recall thinking Tainui appeared to be fairly secretive or sketchy in what he was doing. He looked as though he was concealing . . . items in his puffer jacket.’’
Tainui grabbed two knives from the passenger seat; one was a white-handled butcher’s knife, the other had a dark handle with a similar sized blade.
He put them in the car’s boot and the officer told him he was free to go.
Officer B, who was interviewed by police on April 11, was testing another drink-driver when Officer A got onto the bus with Tainui.
‘‘My observations of Tainui were that he was co-operative . . . and compliant with everything that [Officer A] asked. I never heard him raise his voice or get frustrated.’’
He said he later heard Tainui say he ‘‘did not want to shock us, but he had knives in his vehicle’’.
‘‘This comment came out of the blue. It was not in response to any specific questions from [Officer A].’’
After dealing with his drink-driver, Officer B helped take Tainui’s fingerprints and photo.
‘‘Tainui was completely compliant with me and the process. He was polite and chatty,’’ Officer B said.
‘‘From my interaction with him I was a little surprised he had given such high [alcohol] reading. He was steady on his feet, he wasn’t slurring his words and I couldn’t smell a lot of alcohol on him.’’
The officer overheard Tainui ask if he could get his knives from the car.
‘‘By this stage, I had no idea about Tainui’s history, I presume [Officer A] had looked him up on the police computer, but hadn’t told me.’’
Officer A told Officer B about Tainui’s previous conviction for murder after he returned to the booze bus.
‘‘We didn’t know any details about this murder, just that it existed.’’
Inspector Darryl Sweeney told The Press Tainui was on a ‘‘determined and reckless path’’, seemingly unfazed by his drink-driving offence.
‘‘It appears he just shrugged it off and moved on,’’ he said.
Sweeney said police thoroughly reviewed the drink-driving incident following Tuxford’s death, including bail legislations. Tainui had not been in breach of his parole conditions when he was pulled over.
‘‘We looked at how many people normally come through us for drinkdriving offences, predominantly people don’t get arrested for drink-driving,’’ he said. ‘‘The main thing was you just can’t predict what he was going to do next based on his behaviour that night.’’
Sweeney said he welcomed the findings of the IPCA complaint.
‘‘It’s a very tragic case all around. If we can learn from it from it we will. The police are here to protect public safety, but [what happened] has caused me some sleepless nights, no doubt about that.’’