Probation note that 'any attractive female' was at risk heard at Juliana Bonilla-Herrera inquest

• The coronial inquest into the death of Juliana Bonilla-Herrera has begun in Christchurch
• The Colombian woman was murdered in her flat by convicted rapist Joseph James Brider in 2022
• Brider was released on parole just 10 weeks before the brutal killing

The Department of Corrections has admitted failures of its monitoring of a paroled prisoner who went on to brutally murder Colombian woman Juliana Bonilla-Herrera in her Christchurch flat.

But the agency's lawyer said the error did not lead to the woman's death at the hands of a convicted rapist, who lived next door.

The 37-year-old was stabbed to death by Joseph James Brider in January 2022.

Brider had been released on parole to a unit next door to Bonilla-Herrera's flat just 10 weeks earlier, having served seven years in prison for multiple sexual offences, including rape and kidnapping.

An inquest into her death began in Christchurch on Monday in front of coroner Alexandra Cunninghame.

After beginning with a karakia, Cunninghame paid tribute to the woman who had been killed in such a "brutal, callous, and depraved" fashion.

The coroner offered a message of condolences to Bonilla-Herrera's family in Spanish.

"I know Juliana was a vibrant, adventurous and interesting person, and that she deserves to be remembered in so many more ways than the terrible way in which she died," she said.

Family members were dialled into the hearing from the United States, with interpreters relaying in-court proceedings to them.

Lawyers for the various agencies also expressed their sympathies as they began their respective opening statements.

Brider was granted parole and released in November 2021 to a unit on Grove Street, Addington, three months ahead of his statutory release date.

He was assessed as being a medium-to-high risk of re-offending and paroled under 14 special conditions, including electronic monitoring.

Counsel assisting the coroner Rebekah Jordan touched on meetings Brider had with his probation officer, in which he had lied about his neighbours.

"Mr Brider was asked about any interactions he had had with his neighbours. In response he said they were all elderly people.

"The probation officer did not see any neighbours during this visit. But noted that 'any attractive female moving into the neighbouring flats, or next door, it would be seen as a potential risk'," she said.

As part of Brider's release conditions, the New Zealand Parole Board requested he remain in his unit from 9pm each night to 6am the next morning.

This detail, however, was not properly logged into the system.

Corrections lawyer Pip Currie said the "failure" was not the reason Bonilla-Herrera was murdered.

"It's necessary to emphasise that this failure was immaterial in that it did not allow, or did not permit, for the offending to otherwise occur, but for proper monitoring," she said.

"Put another way the offending would not have been prevented if the curfew was logged and monitored correctly.

"On the face of it, it looks bad."

Because Brider was only next door to Bonilla-Herrera, his electronic monitoring was unable to consistently register when he had left his unit.

The monitoring equipment also allowed, for what Corrections described, as a "grace period" of 10 minutes, Currie said.

"Given the proximity of the addresses, with effectively only a wall between them, the capabilities of the electronic monitoring equipment were not able always to identify [Brider] going next door to another address," she said.

The court also heard how the Pathway Trust charity had been working with Brider as part of a programme to integrate him back into the community.

The trust's lawyer Kerryn Beaton KC said staff believed the parolee "appeared to be doing well".

"None of Pathways staff ever had cause to suspect that he was thinking about, or planning to do, what he did to Juliana or anyone.

"With hindsight, it is clear that he manipulated everyone he dealt with, including Pathways staff.

"And he hid his planning from them and from others," she said.

Brider's Corrections' case manager, whose identity has been suppressed, began their evidence later in the day.

The court heard how Brider told an integration support co-ordinator of wanting any support available to him because of his tendency of re-offending after release.

"He wanted this to be different."

The coroner will examine more than 20 issues during the 10-day inquest, including pre-release decisions, information provided to the New Zealand Parole Board, Department of Corrections checks about the suitability of Brider's accommodation, how he was managed and monitored following his release and whether the community should have been informed.

The inquest continues on Tuesday.