Parole terms invite murder

By CATHY ARONSON

A man who brutally murdered his partner had been sent to live in her house as a condition of parole.

The condition was imposed even though he had served a jail sentence for assaulting her and despite warnings that her life was in danger.

Corrections Minister Matt Robson has asked for an independent audit into the management of Nikora Allan Turner's parole after he was arrested for savagely beating Te Miringa Tipene, known as Milly Dunn, to death in Taumarunui on August 23 last year.

Turner was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday for murdering the 42-year-old mother of three.

He had beaten her from head to foot and her face was unrecognisable when her daughter found the body six days later.

Five of her ribs were broken on either side and she was eventually strangled.

Turner was released from Rangipo Prison, where he had written death threats to her, only two months earlier after serving a 14-month sentence for assaulting her.

In a letter written on May 29 last year, addressed to "My lovely", he gave her four options when he was released from jail: "I stay, I stay and crack you, I crack you and leave, I get life."

In the same letter he said: "I don't need to be pissed to crack you and I most likely be sober next time I do it", and "next time I am going to take some teeth, next time break your legs".

When his mandatory parole came up the following month, the District Prison Board released him on condition he stayed at Ms Dunn's New Rd house.

The Weekend Herald understands that Ms Dunn supported the release.

But it outraged her family, who say she was afraid of him but did not know how to turn him away.

Her older sister, Raewyn Nordstrom, said Turner's probation officer refused to change his parole conditions, even after Ms Dunn was seen with a black eye only a month after Turner's release.

After her sister's death, she demanded answers from Mr Robson, who ordered a full, independent audit.

The Corrections Department would not comment on the specifics of the case or the audit, and the Herald has filed an official information request.

The Central North Island prisons assistant regional manager, Reg Christiansen, said that in general the community probation service would have interviewed Ms Dunn before releasing Turner to her house.

But Raewyn Nordstrom said she had explained to the department that her sister was a "battered woman".

"Of course she couldn't refuse him, she was afraid of him. It should never have been an option. At some point they have to make a judgment call and see the bigger picture."

She said it was difficult to make Turner leave because his parole conditions specified that he had to stay at Ms Dunn's house.

Because Ms Dunn owned the house, she could not leave without a large financial loss.

Women's Refuge chief executive Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said Ms Dunn should have never been put in that situation and the department should have taken the family's concerns seriously.

"It's ludicrous. Women will continue to die because people in important positions minimise the potential risk faced by women like Milly."

Ms Raukawa-Tait said there were many reasons battered women could not escape, including fear, low self-esteem, co-dependency and lack of options.

But during Turner's trial in the High Court at Hamilton, evidence was given that friends, family and social workers had offered Ms Dunn support and tried to get her to leave.

She had also told them that she knew Turner would kill her one day.

Detective Sergeant Derek Webb, of Taumarunui, said Turner had an indescribable control over Ms Dunn.

"I told her she would be going home in a body bag one day if she didn't do something about it, but she was like a lamb to the slaughter.

"She was a lovely person who could not say no."

Detective Sergeant Webb said the police did all they could. They had to counsel her to press charges against Turner the first time, which resulted in his prison sentence.

The police were not told about parole and were unaware of the parole conditions until after the murder.