Kaelmn Waho threatened his girlfriend with a kitchen knife in front of others, including children, then stabbed her. Photo / 123rf
This article describes incidents of intimate partner violence towards women and may be distressing.
A man who stabbed one girlfriend in the abdomen, broke a bottle over the head of another, and may have caused a third to miscarry after punching her, is out of prison but will be kept under strict supervision until 2029.
Kaelmn Jonathan James Waho, 34, has been locked up for nearly all of his adult life after receiving terms of imprisonment for violent offending in 2009, 2013 and 2021.
He has 49 convictions, including 18 for violence, and has been assessed as having persistent feelings of jealousy, anger and “vengeful intention”.
In 2009, at the age of 17 and when living in Nelson, Waho punched and threatened to stab a man whom he saw talking to his then girlfriend.
After going home with the girlfriend, he smashed a bottle over her head, called her a “slut” and a “ho” and punched her in the face four times.
He was sent to prison for four years for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, assaulting a female, injuring with reckless disregard and common assault.
In 2013, about three months after being released from prison at the age of 21, Waho got angry and jealous with another partner, punching her in the face.
The next day, he became angry again, after her father called to ask about her wellbeing, and threatened her with a kitchen knife in front of other people, including children.
As she curled up into the foetal position on the ground with Waho standing over her, Waho stabbed her in the abdomen and then punched her in the same area five times.
She required surgery and intensive care in hospital.
Waho was sentenced to six years and six months in prison for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and assaulting a female.
In September 2020, 11 days after being released from prison at the age of 29, Waho took methamphetamine and stole a car and petrol before becoming involved in a police chase, from which he got away.
Later, he cut off another driver, punched them in the face and took their car, leading to another police pursuit.
Waho crashed, pulled a driver forcibly from another car and drove off, hitting a detective’s vehicle in the process.
When caught, he punched a constable in the face, knocking him to the ground.
In May 2021, Waho was sentenced to three years in prison for a raft of offences including aggravated assault, robbery, aggravated injury, theft, wilful damage, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, driving dangerously and recklessly, and driving under the influence of a drug.
The Department of Corrections told a court that Waho had been cited for 16 misconduct incidents in custody, including nine which included some form of threatening behaviour, verbal abuse or physical aggression.
These included knocking out a pane of glass in a visiting hall and throwing it at a staff member, throwing a chair at a Corrections officer, punching another in the head and throat, and punching three others who tried to restrain him.
The High Court was told last year that Waho had been involved in three serious romantic relationships.
His first started at age 14 and lasted until 17 when he was imprisoned for family violence offending against this partner – the broken bottle incident which left her with shards of glass in her scalp.
His second relationship lasted for a few months, beginning when he was about 20 and also ended with family violence offending – the stab to the abdomen.
Waho’s third relationship was between the ages of 26 and 30, during which time he was mostly imprisoned.
Waho denied being violent towards this woman, but in an interview with a psychologist, he said he had punched a partner in the abdomen, possibly causing her to miscarry, in 2020.
This timeframe is consistent with his relationship with the third woman.
After being released from prison in November 2023, Waho started another relationship, which has also involved conflict.
On the night of January 13, 2024, there was an altercation at a halfway house in the grounds of Christchurch Men’s Prison, which ended when the woman hit Waho with her car and drove off.
After this, he was served with an order not to associate with this woman, and reacted by slamming a table and using threatening language towards Corrections staff.
After his release, Corrections successfully applied to the High Court for an extended supervision order (ESO) so that they could continue to keep tabs on Waho.
ESOs are used to monitor and manage “high-risk” sex offenders or “very high-risk” violent offenders after their return to the community.
Waho, who has threatened to harm sexual offenders he may encounter in release programmes, falls under the category of a violent offender.
In March 2024, the High Court imposed an ESO to keep Waho under supervision for five years.
More recently, he appealed against the order to the Court of Appeal, arguing that he did not meet the criteria the law requires for an ESO – that he harboured persistent “vengeful” intentions towards people.
However, the Court of Appeal justices held that this criteria was fulfilled, based on his offending in 2009 and 2013, and more recent threats Waho had made.
They said that these “constitute evidence of Mr Waho’s persistent hostile rumination with feelings of jealousy and anger, and subsequent acting out of vengeful intention”.
They dismissed his appeal, meaning that Waho will remain subject to extended supervision at least until March 2029, when Corrections will be able to apply to have it extended if they feel it necessary.
The High Court decision detailed Waho’s upbringing in a gang-affiliated family where he was abused and exposed to violence which at times reached “extreme magnitudes”.
“Unsurprisingly, he said that violence was normal to him and he did not have any basis for comparison,” the High Court decision said.
Waho stopped going to school after Year 9, when he was expelled for having drugs at school.
Before this, he had been suspended for being disrespectful to teachers and fighting on multiple occasions.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.