One of New Zealand's most sadistic killers will remain in jail because he still refuses to accept responsibility for elements of his horrific crimes.

Hayden Joseph Taylor raped and killed 18-year-old Nicola Rankin in September 1996 while on bail for raping and kidnapping another woman just five months earlier.

He has been in jail for nearly 20 years, and is now aged 41.

Taylor forced the pregnant teen to walk into the remote Riverhead Forest, 35km northwest of Auckland, and bludgeoned her to death with a spade.

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Her body was found in a shallow grave with her hands bound behind her back and her underwear removed.

He was sentenced to life for Rankin's murder, and preventative detention for strikingly similar previous offending.

That involved him threatening his other victim with a knife, tying her hands behind her back and raping her in his car.

He then drove her to Muriwai Beach and tried to force her into the sand dunes. However, she managed to persuade him to return to the city.

A Parole Board decision released today found Taylor was not eligible for parole because "there remained elements of his continued denial of sexual deviancy".

The board heard Taylor's case on September 9, and noted his continual denial his crimes were sexually motivated.

Nicola Rankin, 18, was raped and killed in 1996. She was pregnant at the time. PHOTO / FILE
Nicola Rankin, 18, was raped and killed in 1996. She was pregnant at the time. PHOTO / FILE

"He told us today that he has addressed that issue but his responses to the board on questions do not satisfy us that in fact he has."

He has completed the Adult Sex Offender Treatment Programme and other rehabilitation courses, but still did not meet the threshold for release, said the report.

"The most recent parole assessment report states that Mr Taylor continued to believe he has addressed his sexual deviancy and still maintains that there was no such element in relation to the murder of the second victim but, we do not believe him," the report said.

The board also found an address he provided to be released to "greatly escalated" the potential for serious harm, and was rejected.

"We are satisfied by a wide margin that Mr Taylor needs more and extensive reintegration activity whether in the form of one-to-one counselling (although we doubt whether he is going to alter his stance in respect of his sexual deviancy) but certainly in the form of [the] Release to Work [programme].

"He must attempt to prove himself across a wide range of situations in the community."