John Wharerkura appears in the Rotorua District Court. Photo/file
The mother of a young Rotorua woman stabbed to death in her flat by a teenager she didn't know lives in fear he will be released and could kill again.
Tanya Burr, 21, was 12 weeks pregnant when she answered a knock at her door on September 15, 2002 from John Wharekura.
He asked for a piece of paper and pen to leave a note for a friend in a neighbouring flat. When she turned to get it, he went inside and stabbed her 15 times with a carving knife.
At 16, he was among one of New Zealand's youngest killers.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with 14 years non-parole and is due to go before the New Zealand Parole Board again on August 21.
Tanya's mother, Val Burr, told the Rotorua Daily Post she had no idea whether her daughter's killer would be let out this time, after he was declined parole when he applied for the first time last year.
"I live in fear for the next person he gets his hands on. If I have not done enough to stop him getting out, I don't want to feel responsible for someone else's life."
Wharekura left Miss Burr's bloodied body on the floor of her Hilda St flat, stole her car and fled the scene.
The car broke down and he hitch-hiked to Wellington but approached a uniformed police officer the next day asking if they were looking for him.
He made a full confession to police but, to this day, no one knows why he did it. A clearer picture of his mental state at the time of the murder became apparent in prison, where he was diagnosed with having suffered from untreated schizophrenia.
The High Court at Rotorua heard at his sentencing in 2003 that Wharekura had an abusive upbringing in Whangarei, left school at the end of 4th form (Year 10) unable to read or write and became a heavy drinker, cannabis smoker and methamphetamine user.
At 15, he moved to Rotorua to find his biological father, who spoke in court saying he did all he could for his son.
Ms Burr, who lives in Palmerston North, said life just hadn't been the same since her daughter's murder.
She said she was the one who would organise parties and little presents at Christmas and birthdays so family occasions were not what they used to be.
Ms Burr's voice shakes when she talks of the times she misses her daughter most.
She said only last week she became teary because she had to go to hospital for a minor operation and missed her daughter.
"I watched the other people in the waiting room who had their daughters with them and I didn't. My daughter isn't here and that's the sort of thing that upsets me."
She said she often wondered what her unborn grandson would have been like. Despite Miss Burr being only 12 weeks pregnant, the pathologist was able to determine the baby was a boy.
Ms Burr said she wasn't aware her daughter was pregnant and she figured she was preparing to tell her and her friends before she was murdered.
"It was a real shock when they asked me in the funeral home what we wanted to do with her baby because we had no idea. We were all still in shock about what had happened ... we buried him with Tanya inside her [clothing] but I regret now that we didn't give him a little coffin or something."
Ms Burr said although the Parole Board had described Wharekura as being a long way off being released on parole, she said he couldn't be locked up forever and it was her constant fear he would get out and offend again.
She was feeling much more prepared about this month's parole hearing than she was last year.
"As soon as the 13 years ticked over, I went into a state of some sort that amounts to depression I guess. It really distressed me but I haven't, thank goodness, felt that way this year."
Although she's got no desire to see him or meet him, she still wants to know why.
"I have got information on about five reams of photocopy paper from the case and I have been through that and I still don't see any logical reason why he did this to Tanya."
What the parole board said
John Wharekura was suffering an undiagnosed psychotic illness when he stabbed Tanya Burr 15 times with a carving knife.
Wharekura appeared before the New Zealand Parole Board for the first time in October last year after serving 14 years' jail.
The Parole Board decision said his crime appeared "outwardly inexplicable" and at the time the sentencing judge said there was no psychiatric history or diagnosed psychiatric disorder.
However, the Parole Board said it was now clear Wharekura suffered from untreated schizophrenia.
The decision said Wharekura had some erratic behaviour during the early stages of his sentence, including a conviction for assault while he was in custody on remand in 2003. In 2008 he was further convicted for assaulting a prison officer.
He has since had two hospital admissions and, as of last year, was in remission with his symptoms after being treated with medication and intramuscular injections.
The board described him as "insightful and intelligent" and he understood the feelings of the victims. In his words he said he "did not believe I should be released now".
The decision said he displayed good insight into what led him to kill Miss Burr, which was substance abuse psychosis at a young age.
He has completed drug-treatment programmes and other programmes but the board said he realised he was a "significant period away from a release on parole".
The board said he was not eligible for parole because he remained an "undue risk to the safety of the community".
Spooky the car
Tanya Burr's mother still drives her murdered daughter's car every day and superstition won't let her give it up in a hurry.
The car, a 1993 Honda Integra, has been renamed by the Burr family as Spooky after a series of episodes since Miss Burr's killing.
It started when her killer, John Wharekura, stole the car after stabbing her to death.
A fault in the fuel pump meant the car broke down, stranding Wharekura during his escape.
"It was almost like the car was saying 'You might have left her dead on the floor of the flat, but you're not going to get away with this you bastard'."
Ms Burr said they didn't want to sell Spooky after Miss Burr's death because $20,000 had been spent rebuilding it after Miss Burr had a serious crash in it.
"It's on its second coat of paint and second cam belt."
They have a string of strange episodes with Spooky relating to Miss Burr, such as her funeral song coming on the radio while they were driving to Rotorua and the boot light mysteriously coming on while they remembered her during an annual trip to Dannevirke they used to make as a family.
Ms Burr confessed it was a small comfort to keep the car as her last connection with her daughter.
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