NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Wilson's lonely life

Other
23 Nov, 2012 10:32 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Stewart Murray Wilson. Photo / Herald On Sunday

Stewart Murray Wilson. Photo / Herald On Sunday

It is nearly three months since Stewart Murray Wilson was released from prison on parole near Wanganui. He talks candidly about his new life, the reaction to his coming here, and how he fills his days.

Paroled sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson is "bored out of my tree", spending at least 20 hours a day alone at his house near Whanganui Prison.

He said that at least in prison he had 60 people to talk to every day if he felt like it. He is not allowed to talk to prisoners in the self-care units nearby, or make contact with his wife and children. He has been told he can make a one-day visit to his mother in the South Island - but only stay for two hours.

And after all the hype, the man who has always been called "Murray" sounds like anyone else on the phone. He was ready enough to talk but hoped the Chronicle would not "ramp up" the story.

He gets lonely sometimes and has not had many visitors. Those who come cannot eat or drink with him, unless they bring the food and drink themselves.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He does get a visit from probation officers each week day and can leave the property only with their permission.

In the first three months since his release from prison he has made some fishing trips, had a bush walk at Gordon Park and out in the "backblocks", and shopped in a supermarket - he would not say which one. He has also spent 15 minutes at the Automobile Association centre in Victoria Ave to renew his driving licence - with two Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society (PARS) minders ahead of him and one behind him. He said they had been instructed not to let him talk to anyone.

"Am I ever going to get a chance to walk down the street or anything?"

He wanted to go to the Isla Grant concert at the Royal Wanganui Opera House on October 31 but was told he was not allowed because his safety could not be guaranteed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He has no plans for Christmas but said he would like a typewriter so that he can write his own story, "not leaving much out".

"If you were to hear the real story and everything else behind it, you would know it."

Apart from the initial uproar when his move to Wanganui was announced, most of the local people he had met had been good to him.

"As much as I want to be down south, I quite like Wanganui. I like the people I have met to date."

Staff at Whanganui Prison were welcoming and not "arrogant and judgmental" like South Island prison staff. And he would like the community to be more supportive of the men he spent a lot of time with, Wanganui's PARS re-integration workers.

Wanganui had nothing to fear from him, he said, because he was not going to fight or mouth off at people.

He saw his strict parole conditions as setting a precedent.

"I don't want to upset and spoil it for somebody else, so I do think about other people."

Wanganui people were "all wound up by Michael Laws and co" over his presence and he said it was those vocal councillors who should pay the $77,000 Wanganui District Council spent on appealing the decision to parole him there.

"What they were doing is vigilante, and we don't need councillors to have a vigilante mindset."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He has only had one negative reaction while out in public.

A man recognised him from a newspaper photograph and started "mouthing off" one day when he was out fishing. The reaction of the PARS men and himself was to pack up and leave, and Mr Wilson has not returned to that fishing spot.

He is unwilling to be photographed again because of the incident and said his appearance had changed since.

What he would have liked to do on his release was buy a car and spend the season whitebaiting in the South Island. He also wants to put a headstone on his son's grave, which is "in the same cemetery as the chap [a police detective] that created all this hullaballoo".

Failing that, he has to amuse himself at home by gardening inside his wooden fence, which he said "passes the time".

"I've got 19 rows of potatoes that have sprouted up eight inches high, and sweetcorn, and lettuces and cabbages."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He is on an old-age pension and has bought a television to watch. He reads the Wanganui Chronicle. He is not allowed a computer but learned the basics of how to use one while in prison in Christchurch.

He cooks for himself and spends time replying to letters written to him. He said he had been getting "quite a few".

"They're horribly disgusted with the position I have been put in."

There has been no hate mail so far and he doesn't want any. He has even been sent a tin of homemade biscuits. "I just want to live a quiet life, and I'm very thankful to the people that have given me little gifts and letters of support. All those little things help, but it's just a pity I can't go out and see them and speak to them face to face."

The Probation Service was trying to do its best for him but he said his current conditions were nothing like being released from prison.

People dealing with him were "on tippy toes" because they knew he would charge them if they did anything wrong. He had asked for and been given charge sheets (forms used to lay criminal charges) that he can use on "whoever comes up against me". He has not needed them so far, and is hoping that will continue.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He is not being charged rent for his house and said that was because of a legal "Catch 22" situation.

He said he could take or leave the publicity but it did affect other people.

"The more people want to regurgitate and have a go at me, they're actually creating more problems for other people, like my alleged victims."

THE WILSON FILE

- Stewart Murray Wilson, 65, was born and raised in Timaru.
- He moved to Australia in his 20s and lived in Sydney before moving to Blenheim.
- In 1996 he was arrested, tried and found guilty on seven charges of rape, one of attempted rape, six of indecent assault, two of stupefying, one of attempted stupefying, two of wilful ill-treatment of a child, three of assault on a female, and one of bestiality.
- He had denied all charges and continues to do so.
- He served 18 years in prison before being released on parole in September. Under strict release conditions he is required to live in a house on the the grounds of Whanganui Prison at Kaitoke.
- His settlement in Wanganui was unpopular, given he had no connections to the region - which was the Corrections Department argument for moving him here - and his history of offending.

- Wanganui Chronicle

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand|education

Region's first learning hub for migrant parents a 'transformative step'

05 Jul 06:00 PM
New Zealand

Bid for inquiry into Ōhinemutu sewage spills fails

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
New Zealand

Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

05 Jul 06:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Region's first learning hub for migrant parents a 'transformative step'

Region's first learning hub for migrant parents a 'transformative step'

05 Jul 06:00 PM

The hub is aimed at empowering families to better understand NZ's education system.

Bid for inquiry into Ōhinemutu sewage spills fails

Bid for inquiry into Ōhinemutu sewage spills fails

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Flaxmere Woolworths site work begins, supermarket built by mid-2026

Flaxmere Woolworths site work begins, supermarket built by mid-2026

05 Jul 06:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP