Angela Blackmoore's partner Laurie Anderson speaks outside court today after Jeremy Powell was sentenced to at least ten years in prison for her murder. Video / Supplied
A man who bludgeoned and stabbed a young Christchurch mum to death 25 years ago in a "dreadful and monstrous killing" has today been jailed for at least 10 years.
Jeremy Powell, 45, was sentenced at the High Court in Christchurch this morning to life imprisonment with a minimum non-paroleperiod of 10 years.
He had pleaded guilty to killing Angela Blackmoore, who was 10 weeks pregnant, on August 17, 1995, while her 2-year-old son Dillon slept in the next room.
Her partner Laurie Anderson, a librarian assistant at University of Canterbury across town, had been called in to cover a shift that night.
Powell, then aged 20, has told the court he used a knife and a bat to beat her to death in her Wainoni home.
Justice Cameron Mander said it could be described as a "dreadful and monstrous killing", saying his victim was "vulnerable and defenceless".
In an emotional victim impact statement, Anderson told Powell in the dock that there was "no excuse for this cruel act".
He described it as a "vicious" and "pointless" murder, saying that Blackmoore was "like a lamb to the slaughter, with no defence".
"You didn't care who you killed – just for the money," Anderson said.
But he thanked Powell for now – nearly 25 years on – for "trying to put things right now".
"It's been a long time, but I respect that," he said.
Anderson was looking forward to a life with Blackmoore, saying their future looked bright and exciting, with a baby on the way.
Laurie Anderson holds a photo of him with partner Angela Blackmoore who was murdered in 1995 just a week after the photo was taken. Photo / Kurt Bayer
He described her as his "true love", adding that she had turned her life around and was focused on being a good mum.
The court heard how Blackmoore's family have had many unanswered questions over the last two decades, asking, "What were her last words? Did she suffer for long?"
However, Powell's defence counsel Donald Matthews described a man full of remorse, someone who is "something of an enigma", having lived the last 24 years as "basically an upstanding citizen", someone who is universally well spoken of, loved and trusted.
And five months later, officers were ready to make a move.
On October 25 last year, detectives charged Powell with murder.
Police also allege that a 48-year-old woman was also part of the killing.
She has also been charged with murder but denies having anything to do with it. She has pleaded not guilty and will stand trial next year.
And just last month, a third person was charged with Blackmoore's murder. The 47-year-old man, who has interim name suppression, is back in court next month.
