Killer only 72 days out of jail for rape
The man who murdered Juliana Herrera had a dark, violent past. Anna Leask reports.
The man who killed Colombian woman Juliana Herrera in her Christchurch home had been released from prison just 72 days before he stabbed her to death in a brutal sexually motivated attack in her own home.
And it can finally be revealed that Joseph James Brider was on parole at the time he murdered Herrera — his neighbour — after serving time for raping and assaulting a woman in the North Island.
A former partner has also spoken out about her volatile and violent relationship with the killer and says she hopes he “rots in hell” for his latest offending.
In the High Court at Christchurch yesterday Brider admitted murdering the 37-year-old on or about January 22. He had initially denied the charge but changed his plea before Justice Jonathan Eaton.
It is understood police had overwhelming evidence that pointed directly at the 35-year-old, who had moved into the unit next to Herrera in late 2021.
Name suppression for Brider was lifted yesterday and the summary of facts — outlining the murder — can now be published.
A senior detective told the Weekend Herald the scene of Herrera’s death was “the worst scene” he had witnessed in decades in the police.
The murder of Juliana Herrera
Brider stabbed Herrera to death at the Grove Rd flat on or about January 22.
The court heard yesterday that a week after he was released from prison he searched “Colombia lady” on his phone.
After that he purchased two rolls of masking tape and searched again for Herrera online — putting her name into Facebook and Google.
He searched again the day before the murder.
He purchased a box of condoms and latex gardening gloves and on the night of the murder he searched a number of pornographic sites including men sneaking in on women sleeping and “familial relations videos”.
That night, Herrera returned home from a night out with a friend intending to go to bed.
She saw Brider sitting outside his flat and asked her friend to drive her up to her door and wait for her as she felt “threatened by” and uncomfortable about him.
“He gave her a bad feeling and she felt like she was being watched,” a friend told police.
“She was deeply concerned for her safety . . . she did not feel safe because of the neighbour,” another friend said.
That night she spent some time online speaking to friends.
After midnight Brider broke into Herrera’s house.
A sleep app recording night time noises captured the first 10 minutes of her murder.
Herrera was heard saying “excuse me” and later “crying and begging for her life”.
“Stop, shut up,” Brider told her, threatening repeatedly to cut her throat.
Screaming and an “audible struggle” could also be heard.
Brider sexually assaulted and violently attacked her.
Eight minutes into the recoding three punches could be heard and Brider said to his victim: “Are you going to behave?”.
The recording finishes with Herrera moaning and saying: “Where are you taking me?”.
Forensic evidence revealed
Herrera tried to escape but was “dragged” back across the bed.
Brider took her to the lounge and she tried to fight him off and run away.
He inflicted 51 separate blunt force injuries and stabbed her repeatedly.
Herrera’s friend went to meet her at the flat the next day for a planned bike ride.
Brider spoke to the friend saying: “She must still be asleep”.
Hours later Herrera was found dead in her own home — naked apart from one sock and showing almost 30 stab wounds that killed her.
Forensic examinations of both Herrera and Brider’s flats revealed blood, fingerprints and semen pointing directly to the killer.
Brider tried to conceal his involvement, showering, washing clothing and disposing of the murder weapon and other items.
Afterwards he drove to McDonald’s.
Later, when he spoke to police, he acknowledged he knew a woman lived next door but claimed he did not know her or where she was from.
Brider’s dark past finally revealed
The Weekend Herald can now reveal the details of Brider’s criminal past, including that he was on parole and subject to release conditions when he murdered Herrera.
He was jailed in 2014 after pleading guilty to a raft of charges relating to a “prolonged” sexual attack on a woman in May that year.
Court documents provided to the Herald by the Hawera District Court detail the “significant” offending.
Brider was working as a delivery van driver at the time of the attack and invited a woman he knew to join him on a delivery trip from Taranaki to Palmerston North.
As the pair drove back, Brider became agitated and started verbally abusing the woman.
He drove erratically, weaving all over the road and reaching speeds of 160km/h.
The woman was terrified they would crash and convinced Brider to stop by saying she had to go to the bathroom.
She got out of the van and told Brider she was going to hitchhike back to Taranaki.
He then dragged her back into the vehicle, climbed on top of her and started to punch her in the head and body.
The woman fought and scratched Brider, who then used tape to bind her hands together. He then pulled off her clothing, and choked her.
Court documents state she was “fearful” and “struggling to breathe”.
Brider got back behind the wheel and drove for about 15 minutes before he pulled over to the side of the road.
There, he used “much more” tape to bind her hands again, and carried her to the back of the van.
“In that area you had your way with her,” said Judge Roberts. “She did not respond.”
Out of respect to the victim, the Herald has chosen not to publish the graphic details of the offences Brider committed.
During the attack the woman complained about the pain he was inflicting.
“She started to struggle. She tried to escape. She could not,” the judge said.
“You threatened to kill (her) children and told her to stay still.”
When the attack was over, Brider stopped at a service station just outside the town and started to fill the van with diesel.
While Brider was out of the car, the desperate woman wrote a note asking for help.
She offered to pay for the fuel and once inside she told the cashier she had been sexually assaulted and was being held against her will.
She did not give them the note but told them her home address.
Terrified Brider would find the note, she wrapped it in toilet paper and hid it in a rubbish bin.
Brider then drove her home and was still there when police arrived a short time later.
He was arrested and charged. The woman suffered burst blood vessels in her eyes, bruises on her throat and injuries to her genitals.
Brider told police the pair had “consensual sex” and claimed the tape he used to bind her was “used in a game they played”.
However, three weeks later he pleaded guilty to rape, unlawful sexual connection, abduction for sex, threatening to kill, assaulting a female and injuring with intent to injure.
At sentencing, Judge Allan Roberts said Brider had 27 previous convictions including “various acts of dishonesty” and assaulting women including at least one with a “hand pressure to the throat area”.
The victim had wanted to read a statement to the court at sentencing outlining the impact the offending had on her.
However, she was too overwhelmed.
“She complains about the physical injures but says they are secondary to the psychological effects your offending,” said Judge Roberts.
“She does not wish to have anything to do with you ever again — she says that you need to understand that no person should have had to endure what it was you subjected her to.”
A probation officer who interviewed Brider for a pre-sentence report said he did not accept “one ounce of responsibility” for his offending.
The officer said Brider did not believe he had done anything wrong and continued to claim the offending was “a consensual game”.
“Remorse is seen as non-existent,” said Judge Roberts.
“You appear to show no regard for your victim at all.
“This was in every sense of the word an ordeal for your victim at the highest level.
“She was hogtied and you had your way with her in that condition,” he said.
“It was a brutal and degrading attack on a restrained and detained woman.
“The wild claims you continue to make suggesting that . . . this was consensual all point to a man with thought patterns adrift of reality . . . Your attitudes are disturbing,” he said.
He sentenced Brider to seven years and nine months in prison for rape and ordered him to serve half of that before he could be considered for parole.
He also handed down prison sentences for the other offending, to be served concurrently.
Parole board rejects bid
Brider became eligible for parole in 2018.
Parole decisions obtained by the Herald show he appeared before the board in February that year.
The board heard that he had been assessed as posing a medium/high risk of sexual re-offending and was set to participate in an adult sex offenders treatment programme in prison.
However, a psychologist told the board that Brider’s “honest engagement” would need monitoring as they were concerned his motivation to complete the programme was “simply as a ‘tick the box’ exercise”.
At the hearing, Brider disclosed for the first time that he had been using methamphetamine and cannabis before the offending.
In July 2019, Brider appeared before the board for a second time.
Again, the risk of further sexual reoffending was assessed as being medium to high.
The board heard Brider had twice turned down a place on the adult sex offenders treatment programme, saying it would “compromise his safety”.
“Mr Brider is seeking to distance himself from the Mongrel Mob and has been the subject of prison-based retaliation from Mongrel Mob members as a result of that decision,” the board decision stated.
Due to the fact he was an untreated offender, Brider was again refused parole.
In August 2020, the board saw Brider again and they raised concerns about the brutality of his offending.
“It is notable that significant violence was deployed in this offending including choking,” said Parole Board panel convenor Judge Phil Gittos.
“He entered a guilty plea to the charges but has been resistant to the undertaking sex offender treatment until recently.”
Judge Gittos said Brider had completed a drug treatment programme and was part way trough the sex offender treatment programme. “He is making good progress.”
In June 2021, Brider made his fourth appearance before the board.
Again, he was told he was too much of a risk to the public to be released.
“This is Mr Brider’s second prison term. He was sentenced to two years in 2006 for burglary and arson,” said panel convenor Martha Coleman. “Mr Brider was assessed as posing at a high risk of further violence and a moderate to high risk of sexual violence.”
It was confirmed then Brider had completed the sex offenders treatment programme but an assessment for “ongoing support around substance abuse” was needed.
Coleman said it was “desirable” that Brider have a further four months of prison-based reintegration before he is released.
Further, the community group he hoped would support his release had “a long waitlist” and it was unclear when they would be able to offer him a bed.
Brider’s statutory released date — the end of his formal sentence when he must legally be released from prison — was February 4, 2022 .
Coleman said given Brider was making “good progress” in prison and that his release date was “looming” it was “sensible ” for the board to reassess him in October 2021.
Brider released from prison
On October 21 last year, Brider was granted an early release from prison.
Parole Board panel convenor Judge Michael Crosbie said things were looking positive for the offender.
“The board’s role is to make an assessment of an offender’s risk. The board’s obligation is to not release the offender unless it is satisfied that the offender does not pose an undue risk to the safety of the community,” he said. “It is trite that most offenders pose a risk — the test is whether that risk is undue.”
Judge Crosbie said Brider had been assessed — again — as having a high risk of violent offending and a moderately high risk of sexual offending.
He said the board “engaged in useful conversation” with the rapist, during which it “tested his safety plan as well as matters relevant to risk”.
“He explained in clear and convincing terms the approach that he took to ensuring there was no confrontation and to de-escalating a situation. All of the examples involved Mr Brider identifying an issue of concern, but then going to those in authority for support, whereupon those concerns were addressed.”
The board agreed to release Brider on parole — but put in place a raft of strict conditions including electronic monitoring to continue “through to six months following his statutory release date”. His curfew was to remain in place for four months in total — extending two months beyond the statutory release date.
On November 10 last year, Brider walked free from prison. Just 72 days later he murdered Juliana Herrera.