Killer to spend 17 years in jail

An ``avalanche of violence'' which ended with Tauranga man Shane Kurth being fatally stabbed in the heart with a kitchen knife has landed his murderer a life jail sentence with a 17-year non-parole period.
Former Tauranga man Steven Wearne Nightingale, 38, went on a violent rampage, assaulting his partner and three other men before fatally stabbing Mr Kurth, 33, after barging into his Waihi Rd apartment on September 14, 2007.
During the unprovoked attack at about 5pm at the Aaron Court apartments, Mr Kurth received nine stab wounds, including the fatal blow which pierced two chambers of his heart, causing massive internal bleeding.
Nightingale was also a tenant at the apartments, which were later renamed Sunrise Vista.
During the attack, the tip of the knife broke off and was later found on Mr Kurth's stomach.
Nightingale, who was found guilty on March 4 of murder and aggravated burglary after a two-week trial, was sentenced in the High Court at Rotorua yesterday by Justice Lynton Stevens.
He also received concurrent sentences on one charge of assaulting a female and three of injuring with intent to injure which he admitted at the start of his trial.
The jury heard that the landlord at Aaron Court had sometimes trusted Mr Kurth to collect the rent from other tenants and that had made Nightingale jealous.
On September 14, after spending some of the day drinking in his unit with friends, Nightingale became angry that people were leaving his party. Intoxicated he went to confront Mr Kurth.
Armed with a knife hidden in his clothing, Nightingale burst into his neighbour's apartment, damaging the nearby wall, and attacked Mr Kurth, who was having coffee with friend and fellow tenant Dion Honeycombe.
Nightingale said Mr Kurth was the one who attacked him with the knife, claiming he only stabbed Mr Kurth in the back once while defending himself.
Nightingale's violent rampage began with him punching his partner in the eye and about the head.
When another tenant intervened, he was also punched in the side of the head and knocked out.
Nightingale also attacked another man, punching him and kicking him while on the ground, leaving him with a severe eye injury and loss of sight.
Mr Honeycombe was also punched about the face and head, before being thrown against a door, resulting in bruising and grazes to his head, lip and body.
Witnesses gave evidence that Nightingale had earlier yelled threats at Mr Kurth, saying he was going to ``get him''.
Crown prosecutor Duncan McWilliam described Nightingale's attack on Mr Kurth as being the culmination of an ``avalanche of violence'' meted out that day.
Mr McWilliam told Justice Stevens a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years for the murder and aggravated burglary offences was warranted.
But Nightingale's lawyer Paul Mabey QC argued that parliament had reserved the 17-years minimum non-parole period for a small number of the worst cases of murder and this was not a case which would justify that.
Justice Stevens said given thesignificant level of violencemeted out by Nightingale onMr Kurth, life imprisonment witha 17-year minimum non-paroleperiod was appropriate.
He also imposed concurrent sentences of three and a half years' imprisonment for the aggravated burglary, two years for the assault on two of the other men, including Mr Honeycombe, two-and-a-half years for the assault on the man who lost his sight in one eye, and one year for the assault on his partner.
Outside court, Mr Kurth's father Grahame Kurth said he was pleased with the sentencing outcome and it was time for the families to try and move on as best they could.
Mr Kurth's partner Tina Walrond said she was relieved the court process was over.