Graeme Burton, pictured in court in Wellington during 2007, became a household name in the late 2000s when he embarked on a terrifying spree of violence and murder. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Graeme Burton, pictured in court in Wellington during 2007, became a household name in the late 2000s when he embarked on a terrifying spree of violence and murder. Photo / Mark Mitchell
A second man has pleaded guilty to attacking infamous double-killer Graeme Burton at the facility that houses the country's most dangerous criminals.
The admission comes after convicted murderer and Senior Crips gang member Siuaki Lisiate pleaded guilty yesterday to stabbing Burton more than 40 times.
His former fellowinmate Te Ariki Poulgrain was arraigned todayin the High Court at Auckland on a charge of wounding with intent to injure.
The 21-year-old was part of an attack at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo on 11 May last year which saw Burton shanked, including to his head and eye.
The attack came while Poulgrain was a serving prisoner, however, the court heard he has since completed his term and is now on remand awaiting his sentence for the Burton attack.
But a disputed facts hearing will be held next month over if prosecutors can prove whether and to what extent Poulgrain stabbed Burton.
Lisiate and Poulgrain will both be sentenced in late November, while a third prisoner accused of being involved in the attack is due to go to trial in the High Court next month.
Burton, who became a household name in the late 2000s when he embarked on a terrifying spree of violence and murder, was ambushed while walking along a landing of the prison's delta block.
He was suddenly punched in the face, court documents released to the Herald read, and stumbled back and fell to the ground.
Poulgrain and the 39-year-old Lisiate then ran towards Burton, who has a prosthetic leg after losing the limb in a 2007 police shooting, and hit him with a series of punches.
A makeshift knife was then unveiled by Lisiate, who is known in criminal circles as JFK or Just F**king Crazy.
He then began stabbing Burton more than 40 times.
Prone on the ground and curled in a foetal position, Burton tried to use his hands to shield his face, court documents read.
Paremoremo Prison in Albany, New Zealand's only maximum-security facility. Photo / Doug Sherring
Corrections officers, who had become aware of the violence, waited for backup before entering the landing. Despite the guards waiting on the other side of a prison grille, Lisiate continued his attack.
When officers stormed the area in force and challenged Lisiate he stood up and threw two large shanks at the guards' feet.
Burton was initially in a life threatening condition and was taken to Auckland Hospital.
He had suffered several stab wounds to his body and a ruptured eye globe which required surgery and has severely diminished his vision, court documents read.
When spoken to by police, Lisiate said he directed two other maximum-security prisoners to take part in the attack.
Stabbing Burton was not the first time Lisiate had attacked an inmate at Paremoremo.
In 2009 he ordered a hit on 23-year-old Tue Faavae, who was strangled to death with a radio power cord in a gang-related revenge killing.
Lisiate was sentenced in 2011 to life imprisonment for the murder, with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years.
Burton, meanwhile, is serving time for crimes which shook New Zealand.
In January 2007 he gunned down father-of-two Karl Kuchenbecker, shot two other men and wounded a handful of others in Wainuiomata and Wellington - the tragic climax to six months of drug-fuelled offending.
