A man jailed for the murder of a convicted paedophile on bail and awaiting trial on fresh charges has been refused parole.
And it has been revealed the killer has "retired" from the gang he was long-affiliated with and is taking steps to remove its insignia tattooed across his forehead.
Convicted child sex offender Glen Stinson, 57, was found beaten to death on a rural road near Foxton on July 27, 2007.
At the time of his death Stinson was on bail waiting awaiting trial on four charges after he allegedly attempted to rape and indecently assaulted a 6-year-old girl.
He had previously been jailed for offences relating to young girls dating back to 1967.
A court heard that the night he died Stinson went to a party at his partner's house.
She lived there with Bruce Tamatea.
At the party Stinson was allegeldy found sexually abusing another child.
The girl's mother attacked Stinson and told the party she was going to "kill the bastard".
Tamatea and Aubrey Harrison, along with a woman who has permanent name suppression, forced Stinson into a car and drove him away from the party.
The trio drove the man to Himatangi and then Foxton.
There, he was beaten to death and his battered body dumped in the driveway of a poultry farm.
Tamatea, Harrison and the woman were all charged with murder.
Tamatea admitted this part in the fatal attack, saying he "went too far by bashing Stinson with a hammer and stomping him.
He later told his wife that he kicked Stinson "till his eyes popped out".
Tamatea pleaded guilty to the murder and said Harrison and the woman were innocent - that he alone killed Stinson.
"I had the hammer, I used the hammer," he told the court.
"It was only supposed to be a bash."
Harrison pleaded not guilty to murder but was found guilty after a jury trial.
The woman was sentenced to three years' jail for manslaughter.
Tamatea was jailed for life with a minimum non parole period of 10 years.
When he first appeared before the Parole Board last year he was declined release from prison.
He appeared for a second time last week.
Again, his bid for freedom was rejected.
Parole Board panel convenor Judge Charles Blackie said when Tamatea appeared in 2017 it had been noted that he was doing well with prison but that he needed to further his reintegration programme.
"Over the last 12 months Mr Tamatea has performed creditably and is now resident in a self-care unit," he said in the decision, released to the Herald today.
"He speaks with enthusiasm as to his current situation and the progress that he is making within the prison system."
Tamatea has completed a number of programmes in prison and attended sessions with a psychologist.
However, Judge Blackie said there were four areas that Tamatea needed to concentrate on to "strengthen his pathway towards release".
Those areas included work opportunities with a view to working outside the prison, guided release activities to his proposed area of release and further meetings with his support person.
"Mr Tamatea is not considered suitable for parole as at today's date and is the intention of the board that the issue of parole be revisited in 12 months," said Judge Blackie in the decision.
"In the meantime Mr Tamatea is to further strengthen his safety plan and his reintegration plan.
Judge Blackie said the board was "generally impressed" with the murderer's "enthusiasm to progress through the system so that his ultimate release may be assured".
"He has indicated that he has 'retired' from the Black Power gang and that he will be taking steps as soon as he is able to remove the Black Power insignia at present on his forehead.
"He was told by the board that in the event that he is able to gain employment outside the wire that he should give priority to utilising any income in that direction."
Stinson was a serial child sex-offender with a knack for wheedling his way into the lives of the families of his victims.
His life of crime began in 1967, when, as a 17-year-old, he was convicted of indecent assault.
He was convicted five more times between 1974 and 1984, for the same offence, all on girls under the age of 16.