The man who killed three people - and left another with life-changing injuries - in a horror crash was previously acquitted of a murder charge following a crime that shocked the nation.
Garth Temokina Thompson, 51, pleaded guilty in the Whanganui District Court on Friday to being under the influence of methamphetamine “to such an extent as to be incapable” of operating a motor vehicle.
He was under the influence of meth when he caused a head-on collision near Taihape that killed three motorcyclists in December.
Lesley Brooks, 46, Luke Shaw and Jacob “Pudding” Coady, both aged 24, died in the crash.
Jeremy Capper was seriously injured, losing both an arm and a leg.
The Herald can now reveal that 32 years ago, Thompson and another then gang prospect, Raymond Russell Green broke into elderly doctor Howard Teppett’s home in Foxton.
The 79-year-old was viciously beaten with an iron bar and died from severe injuries.
His 78-year-old sister, who was staying at the house, was also beaten and raped.
Thompson and Green were both charged with murder.
Green was later found guilty of manslaughter, while Thompson was acquitted on the murder charge.
But in 1995, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on two charges of aggravated robbery; one on the Teppett home and another on one of the elderly man’s neighbour a few days before Teppett’s death.
In November 2012, he was convicted for possession for supply of methamphetamine and sentenced to serve two years and three months in prison.
Three months ago, Teppett’s son, Ross, sent a message to the Sulphur City Motorcycle Club expressing his sorrow that Capper had lost his friends and for the injuries he had suffered.
“Thompson is a seriously damaged human being. I hope he gets a very long sentence for his latest appalling crimes. Please send my very best wishes to Jeremy. I’m so glad he survived that day. I’m sure he will go on to do very good things in this world. Nga mihi Ross Teppett.”
Thompson appeared in front of the Whanganui District Court via a video link on Friday.
Lawyer, Simon Hewson acknowledged the “grief and pain in this matter,” before entering guilty pleas on all charges.
Hewson said Thompson was open to restorative justice.
He was remanded in custody until his sentencing on January 15.
Capper told the Herald he was pleased Thompson had pleaded guilty.
But he expressed disappointment in the justice system, saying the driver who took three lives should have been charged with manslaughter.
“The scumbag shouldn’t have been driving; his lack of care has resulted in three people in the ground and me being disabled,” Capper said.
“No sentence will be long enough.”
Last December, Capper, 48, was riding his Harley-Davidson back to Mangaweka, with three fellow motorcyclists following close behind.
Then, out of nowhere, he saw a black Toyota Hilux ute coming at him.
“It happened so quickly ... I collected the left side of his vehicle, and he collected mine. I thought, ‘what the f*** are you doing?’” Capper says.
“I remember everything, the noise, the sparks, sliding on gravel and seeing the car on its side.
“There was debris everywhere, I asked a witness to the accident, ′Am I bleeding? Am I missing anything?’ He said, ‘Your foot.’ It was 100m away, I thought that’s a bummer.
“I slid on my belly and crushed my arm, my hand was mangled, and I smashed my elbow. My last words were, ‘Please don’t let me bleed out’.
Capper and his mates had been attending a bike rally in Mangaweka for the Manawatū chapter of the Road Pirates the previous night.
They had just finished breakfast and were heading along SH1 in Utiku, near Taihape, on December 7 around 8am when the tragedy happened.
Critically injured, Capper was flown to Wellington hospital from the scene and then on to Hamilton where he was in an induced coma for nearly six weeks.
He describes Thompson as an “oxygen thief”.
“I have nothing to say to him,” he said.
“I feel sad I survived, and my friends didn’t. I feel responsible for leading them into a disaster, but it was out of our control and shouldn’t have happened.”
Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards. Recently she was runner-up for Best Editorial Campaign and part of a team that won Best Coverage of a Major News Event: Philip Polkinghorne Murder Trial. She worked for the Herald on Sunday then rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ’s60 Minutes,20/20and Sunday.