Peter Waihape was sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch to preventive detention and a minimum 18-year non-parole period for the murder, abduction and rape of a Christchurch prostitute in December 2005 and the abduction and rape of another woman a few days earlier.
Peter Waihape was sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch to preventive detention and a minimum 18-year non-parole period for the murder, abduction and rape of a Christchurch prostitute in December 2005 and the abduction and rape of another woman a few days earlier.
A man who raped a sex worker, then ran her over with his car, reportedly laughing as he did, before throwing her half-naked body into a river has failed to secure an early release from prison.
However, for the first time in nearly 10 years, Peter Waihape has consentedto be seen by a psychologist.
It’s the first notable steps he has taken towards rehabilitation since 2014, when he withdrew his consent to be seen by a psychologist after just seven sessions, and had received no treatment since then.
But, in a report released by the New Zealand Parole Board today, Waihape has been seeing a psychologist fortnightly and has had 20 sessions.
“He is considered to have made early progress,” the board said, noting, however, that “he is still assessed as a high risk of violent reoffending and an above average risk of sexual reoffending”.
‘He was now accepting that he needed help’
Waihape was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years in 2005 for the rape and murder of a 24-year-old sex worker he’d met in Christchurch.
She’d agreed to go with him to a carpark before they had an argument about his refusal to wear a condom.
Waihape then strangled her, bound her hands and raped her before pushing her out of the car and then running her over with his vehicle multiple times.
She became trapped under the car and was pleading for her life, but Waihape took no notice and ran her over again with witnesses saying he was laughing as he did so.
Peter Waihape was sentenced to preventive detention, on top of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18 years. Photo / File
Waihape then later drove the woman to the Avon River and threw her body into the water.
Three days before the murder, Waihape sexually assaulted a teenager whom he’d abducted off the street.
Waihape drove the girl around for several hours, violated her, then dropped her off. He had been released from prison just days before.
Waihape first became eligible for parole in January last year, when the board noted it had serious concerns about him.
“For his part, Mr Waihape told us that when he was previously seen by the psychologist, he was not ready to engage. He was very entitled. He reacted inappropriately and he had recognised that since,” panel convenor Neville Trendle said.
“He had addressed his own conduct with others ... He said that he was now accepting that he needed help.”
Significant work ahead
In his latest appearance before the board last month, the psychologist he’d been seeing noted his good conduct in prison, and said that generally he interacts well but will walk away when he feels frustrated.
The board said that he was articulate and spoke well, and that his psychologist had validated a lot of what he’d said, and it had a profound impact on him.
“Mr Waihape believes he needs significant individual work. He told the Board that he has made changes in his thinking and his behaviour and has managed many stressful and frustrating situations by simply not engaging,” the board’s ruling reads.
“We spoke with him about the importance of building trust with others and communicating around what is going on in his inner world.”
The board said that while Waihape had made progress, there was still significant work ahead and declined parole.
He will be seen again in another 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.
