Skinner was a suspected methamphetamine manufacturer and under police investigation in 2008.
On the night of September 11, Sergeant Don Wilkinson was working undercover when he tried to install a tracking device on Skinner’s car, parked outside his home in South Auckland.
Skinner, and an associate Iain Clegg, saw Wilkinson on a security camera and believed he was an intruder.
They chased Wilkinson and another officer down the street with Skinner firing shots from a high-powered air rifle.
He shot the other officer, who has permanent name suppression, four times and Wilkinson three times, killing him.
Skinner was convicted of Wilkinson’s murder and the attempted murder of the second officer. He was sentenced to life with a minimum non-parole period of 15 years in prison in 2010.
Clegg was convicted of manslaughter for his role in Wilkinson’s death and received an eight-year sentence.
Inside his house, they discovered a variety of chemicals and equipment used to make the class-A drug.
Undercover officer Sergeant Don Wilkinson died after being shot in the chest. Photo / Richard Robinson
On Tuesday, Skinner appeared before the New Zealand Parole Board to plead for an early release from prison. He became eligible last year and this was his second time before the board.
Since being imprisoned Skinner said he’d taken every opportunity to change.
“I’ve really tried to spend this time proactively, I’ve tried to better myself,” Skinner told the board.
“I know the gravity of what I did, and I’ve used this time to try and be a better person.”
Skinner apologised to Wilkinson’s family and said he would carry his actions on that night with him forever.
When asked why he felt the need to chase Wilkinson down the street and ultimately murder him, Skinner said on reflection he thought it was a misguided idea of being “macho” and the idea of backing up his friend Clegg.
“It was blind loyalty,” Skinner said.
“It’s always been a big problem, that man thing; it’s a way of thinking.
John Skinner after being found guilty of murder and attempted murder. Photo/ Greg Bowker
“I thought that I’m owed and didn’t have to follow the rules, that I had to go and defend a friend who was not even a friend.”
During his time in prison, Skinner has completed group sessions with a psychologist but has also paid out of his pocket for numerous one-on-one sessions.
As part of the insight he’s gained from those sessions, Skinner says he’s learned the practice of “mindfulness” which, he told the board, helped him slow down and make careful decisions, rather than acting on instinct like he did in 2008.
“I felt like the courses were good but I could only benefit from more,” Skinner said.
“I wanted to better myself, I wanted to be a better person.”
John Skinner (left)and Iain Clegg (right). Photos / NZPA
His lawyer Marie Dyhrberg told the board Skinner had “ticked all the boxes” while in prison and there was nothing left for him to do.
However, the board disagreed and questioned why Skinner had not completed any release-to-work programmes, which allowed inmates to be employed outside the wire during the day before returning to prison at night.
Skinner said he’d been employed extensively while behind bars but was keen to be released to work if it was the last hurdle to him being paroled.
In declining his release, the board said it wanted to see Skinner tested for short periods outside the prison before seeing him again in August next year.
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.
