Gordon Hieatt murdered his girlfriend in 2009. Photo / Natalie Slade
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A man who strangled his girlfriend to death and lived in the same flat as her decaying corpse for nearly a month is to be released from jail.
Gordon Hieatt murdered his girlfriend, Nuttidar Vaikaew, at her flat in the Auckland suburb of Western Springs in 2009.
He lived with her corpse for close to a month before police found her in a bed at the back of the flat. A fan had been pointed at her body in an attempt to disguise the smell.
Hieatt appeared before the New Zealand Parole Board for the first time in 2020 after becoming eligible for early release.
Today he was told he will be released on October 7.
The former computer programmer had been hoping to get back up to speed with advances in the industry before starting to apply for jobs, but concerns were raised about his well-being with suggestions he stick to menial tasks following his release.
He had earlier made it clear to the board he hoped to become a computer programmer again, despite saying his obsession with his work was the “root” of his offending.
During today’s hearing, he said he had been involved in a software project which he thought would turn into a business.
“I do get focused, it can be problematic if I am working on my own.”
He also said he had concerns about stressors, finances and “not being successful”.
Family members said they had reconnected with Hieatt during his incarceration, one had concerns about the impact of the internet on his mental health, suggesting it would be beneficial for Hieatt to be involved in menial tasks, not in information technology (IT) upon his release.
“We want to temper expectations of earning responsibilities.”
Panel convenor Annabel Markham told Hieatt she struggled to see the connection with what he did to Vaikaew.
She asked Hieatt what had led him to that “extreme level of violence”.
He paused for a bit before saying he felt he was under attack at the time.
“The pressure just built up.”
Markham said she still thought there was rage, anger, jealousy and resentment.
Hieatt told the board he had done work to address his emotions and how to deal with them.
According to Justice John Priestley’s sentencing notes from 2011, Hieatt and Vaikaew, who was a sex worker, had got into an argument about how much rent he was to pay and him having to leave the flat when she had clients around.
Hieatt, who had been in an on-again, off-again relationship with Vaikaew for several years, admitted during the trial he had strangled her, but said he didn’t intend to kill her.
She attempted to escape at one point during the argument, which had become physical, only for Hieatt to seize her and pin her down on her bed, where he attempted to gag her with masking tape.
Hieatt told one report writer he believed Vaikaew had goaded him into killing her, and thought she made the plan when he wouldn’t pay her rental bills.
The judge ordered him to serve a minimum of 11 years before he could be eligible for parole.
Today he said, that while having the skills to deal with his emotions, it was in that instance that it had got to the point where he “painted himself into a corner”.
Hieatt had told the court that after her death he washed her body with a cloth, wiping blood from her mouth, nose and eyes before spending the night in bed with her body.
It was Vaikaew’s landlord, Ray Goffin, who called the police after realising something was wrong when he came around to collect the rent, reporting piles of flies in the flat.
Today the board told Hieatt there appeared to be a pattern of behaviour with prostitutes prior to the murder.
Hieatt said two of his six girlfriends had been prostitutes.
When asked if he had a problem with Vaikaew’s work, he said no, but that “it was just her character”.
“I should have known better. I’m not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but that’s how she was.”
Markham reminded Hieatt he had committed the “ultimate abuse”.
“I allowed it to go on rather than dealing with it in a constructive way,” he said of the relationship with Vaikaew.
The board heard Hieatt had undertaken a release-to-work programme which was proceeding well.
He was living in shared accommodation and the release-to-work programme would continue after his release.
He was asked what he would do once a spell of supported accommodation came to an end following his release.
Hieatt said he would probably opt to share accommodation with others to keep costs down.
Probation said there would be a liaison to assist Hieatt with accommodation options and support with other government agencies.
Corrections reported he had been compliant and had a good work ethic.
Hieatt will appear for a monitoring hearing in February 2026.
Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.