Whetu Te Hiko was sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2007 with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The man who murdered Tokoroa school teacher Lois Dear 18 years ago will remain behind bars for another two years after the Parole Board declined to release him.
But the board acknowledged Whetu Te Hiko's genuine remorse for his inexplicable actions on that fateful Sunday morning in July 2006, when the then 23-year-old brutally assaulted and suffocated Dear in her new entrant classroom at Strathmore School.
"Nana Lolo", as the 66-year-old mother-of-two and grandmother became known to the nation, was killed by Te Hiko after she saw him trying to steal her car and threatened to call police.
Te Hiko, who later admitted he was still drunk from the night before, told police he panicked and ran toward Dear grabbing and overpowering her, punching and kicking her, and eventually suffocating her on the floor of her classroom with her sweatshirt.
An autopsy found she died of asphyxia with blunt force trauma to the head and chest contributing to her death. She suffered a broken nose and ribs.
Te Hiko eventually pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2007 with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years.
At Te Hiko's first Parole Board hearing on Thursday morning, five days before the 18th anniversary of Dear's death, panel convenor Neville Trendle read some of the victim submissions, which cannot be reported.
Te Hiko, now 41, became emotional when he told the panel he hated himself for what he had done and the submissions had torn him apart.
"From the first words that I read I was broken. I could feel their pain. I could feel what they were going through."
He apologised to Dear's family and said there was a lot he wished he could change but he could not.
"I can't change the outcome. In my heart I just feel rotten."
When asked why he did what he did, Te Hiko - whose upbringing was marred with violence - said he was not in his right mind.
He said he was angry and dealing with "demons" and thought taking drugs and alcohol was the answer, because he had no-one to talk to.
"I wish I could go back... I can't even make sense that what I'm about to do is not a good idea because I wasn't in my straight mind.
"I could have just gone a minute down the road to my Nan's house."
Te Hiko talked about low self-esteem saying he did not believe he deserved care and that he had deep sorrow for his crime.
At the time of the murder Te Hiko had already been in jail for assaulting the mother of his second child.
He also had an older brother and uncle who were jailed for murdering their partners.
Trendle referred to a psychologist's report that required Te Hiko to address his trauma but Te Hiko said he was not ready to deal with that yet, and preferred to process the pain he had caused first.
The panel heard that Te Hiko was a model prisoner, holding the most trusted work position at Tongariro Prison, in administration.
He was proficient in te reo Māori, liked to carve and weave and was a talented musician.
Now a minimum security prisoner, he had never caused any problems but kept mostly to himself and had continued his education.
When asked what his future looked like outside prison, Te Hiko said he wanted to teach, share and help others.
He said his "lag" had been more of a "blessing than hell" and there was potential for him to be involved with planting harakeke outside the prison.
Te Hiko was also scheduled to undertake grief counselling with a psychologist in September.
After a short deliberation the panel declined to release Te Hiko, recalling him in June 2026, acknowledging the prisoner did not expect to be released today.
Trendle also acknowledged Te Hiko's own suffering.
"You're living the hurt that they (the family) feel and that is very genuine on your part.
"There is a psychologist's report that maps out the work that you need to do alongside the other work you are doing in the prison and that you have acknowledged when the time is right you will do that."
Trendle said two years would give Te Hiko the "time and space to make a solid start on that journey".
Te Hiko closed the hearing with a karakia.
