Jamie Slater, also known as Jamie Shippey, has been found responsible for the death of Whatitiri Whakaruru. Photo/ Tara Shaskey
Guests at a boarding complex began a night of drinking and playing pool in the recreational area with “no dramas”.
But when one of the guests, Jamie Slater, had an unexpected change of mood, everything changed in an instant.
Without warning, he grabbed a large chef’s knife with a 20cm blade from the communal kitchen, headed straight for Whatitiri Whakaruru, and fatally stabbed him in the heart.
Whakaruru, 26, pushed Slater away, stumbled backwards, then landed on a couch where he slumped over, bleeding heavily from the chest wound.
Today, Slater, who also goes by the name of Jamie Shippey, was found in the High Court at New Plymouth to have been responsible for Whakaruru’s death.
He was previously found unfit to stand trial on a charge of murdering Whakaruru and has now been detained as a special patient in a psychiatric hospital.
The outcome was distressing for the whānau of Whakaruru, who felt failed by the justice system, saying they believe Slater, who appeared via audio-visual link from a health facility, has been allowed to “walk free”.
Whakaruru was not Slater’s first victim.
The court has heard he has an earlier conviction for manslaughter, relating to the death of his partner.
At today’s hearing, the public gallery was packed with Whakaruru’s whānau and friends who held photos of him as they comforted one another.
Whakaruru’s mother described her son as a good, honest and caring young man who had a promising life ahead of him.
“He did not have an inch of violence in him,” she said in her victim impact statement read to the court.
She remembered his great sense of humour and how he would lovingly tease her.
Now, he would never have the chance to marry, have children or continue the lineage of his whānau, she said.
Addressing Slater, she said she had no words for him other than that he took an innocent life for no reason.
“My baby boy is never coming back. From this day, my life will always be shattered and damaged.”
Whakaruru’s sisters also read victim impact statements, with one describing the “excruciating” loss of her younger brother.
“I stand here today with a heart shattered beyond repair, grieving the loss of my beloved brother, my parents’ youngest child, and my whole entire heart. Whatatiri Whakaruru is his name.”
She said Whakaruru was “a bright-spirited, irreplacable soul”.
His life had been “stolen” by Slater, who she described as a “lowlife, cold-hearted coward”.
Now, the whānau was left with a wound that refused to heal, she said.
Whakaruru’s other sister spoke about the outcome of the case and labelled it an injustice for her brother and the whānau.
She said Slater had been “allowed to walk free” and felt that his health and background issues were being used as a means for him to avoid accountability.
“They [his issues] do not justify your actions,” she said.
“You were aware of your actions and simply did not care.”
As the whānau were now forced to confront the reality of a life without Whakaruru, she said the justice system had failed them.
“You don’t deserve to be granted any special treatment,” she told Slater.
Whakaruru was killed on April 22, last year, at a boarding complex on Gladstone St in Hāwera, South Taranaki.
That evening, Slater had been playing table tennis in the recreational area with other guests before he went to his room.
Whakaruru, his cousin Kingi Te Aroha Poutonga Keremeta, and friend Joseph Hori, returned to the complex, where Keremeta was also a guest, around 9.40pm after spending time at another address in Hāwera.
Shortly after, the three bumped into Slater in the hallway as they all left their rooms.
CCTV footage captured the men shaking hands with Slater, whom they previously did not know, and he walked to the recreational area with them.
Whakaruru and his group played pool and table tennis while Slater and other residents also socialised.
People were drinking alcohol and the mood in the room was described as being “all good” and “no dramas”.
At 10.07pm, Slater left the area, walked down the hallway and went to his bedroom.
When he returned one minute later, he walked through the communal kitchen, grabbed a knife and headed straight for Whakaruru.
Without warning, he stabbed Whakaruru.
Slater was then beaten by Keremeta, “as a result of blind fury”.
Hori grabbed the knife from Slater’s hand and threw it on the floor and then went to assist Whakaruru.
Other residents phoned 111 and emergency services arrived a short time later.
Whakaruru was transported to hospital but he was unable to be revived.
The stab wound to his chest went through his heart and was unsurvivable.
Slater was later spoken to by police and stated he had been “scared”.
“There was five or six people. I went to that couch. They said ‘you got a problem’, I told them ‘nah, I haven’t got a problem’,” he told police.
“I got a knife, they were playing pool.”
He also said he “didn’t give a s***“ and alleged they were ”s****y gang members".
Keremeta was earlier sentenced to 10 months of home detention for beating Slater, and on other unrelated violence charges.
At today’s hearing, Justice Peter Churchman acknowledged the courage and the loss of Whakaruru’s whānau, as well as their “frustration” with the outcome.
“I acknowledge that for the whānau it will be of little consolation but it is the way the system works with cases like this.”
Justice Churchman, who previously found Slater unfit, was tasked with determining whether Slater was responsible for the death of Whakaruru, and how to deal with him.
He was satisfied there was sufficient evidence to establish, on the balance of probabilities, that he was responsible.
The justice then ruled, based on a forensic psychiatrist’s report, which was accepted by the defence and the Crown, that Slater was to be detained in a psychiatric hospital as a special patient.
He said Slater showed significant behavioural and cognitive deficits such as impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and limited insight.
Slater, who also has irreversible brain damage, posed a risk to himself and was a very high risk of reoffending and was assessed as a “significantly elevated” risk of harm to others.
The Minister of Health ultimately determined how long the special patient order detaining Slater remained in force.
Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.