John Wharekura appears in the High Court in Rotorua in May 2003 when he was a teenager. Photo / NZME
John Wharekura appears in the High Court in Rotorua in May 2003 when he was a teenager. Photo / NZME
A man who plunged a knife 15 times into pregnant Rotorua woman Tanya Burr 22 years ago is appealing his murder conviction and sentence, claiming he was insane at the time.
The news of John Wharekura’s appeal has left the woman’s mother, Val Burr from PalmerstonNorth, “livid”.
She said the actions of someone who stabbed a stranger to death in an unprovoked and frenzied attack could be seen as crazy but, in her view, that did not mean they were insane.
Wharekura was 16 in 2002 when he killed Burr at her Hilda St flat after knocking on her door and asking for a piece of paper and pen, supposedly to write a note for a friend in a neighbouring flat.
Tanya Burr was 12 weeks pregnant with a baby boy when she was murdered by John Wharekura, a teenage stranger. Photo / NZME
Wharekura was freed in 2018 but recalled the following year after problems with adhering to parole conditions and his mental health. He has since been convicted of assault offences in prison.
In 2021, he was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm relating to an assault on another prisoner. The Auckland District Court confirmed to the Rotorua Daily Post he was not convicted because he had an insanity defence.
Wharekura’s latest Parole Board decision
Wharekura was called before the Parole Board last month, despite not seeking parole.
In the board’s decision, it said an Auckland District Court judge determined in January this year that Wharekura should be held as a special patient under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.
Wharekura has since been in the Mason Clinic, a secured facility in Auckland for people suffering serious mental health problems.
Police at the scene of Tanya Burr's murder at her Hilda St flats in Rotorua in 2002. Photo / NZME
His lawyer, Anoushka Bloem, told the board that Wharekura had appealed his initial sentencing. This will be heard in the Court of Appeal.
“She told us that as a result of the investigations that preceded the finding that he was not guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on the basis of his insanity, there was a basis for an appeal against sentence on similar grounds.”
Bloem told the board it was likely to be some time before the appeal was resolved and certain reports needed to be filed.
A clinician’s report said an application had been made to return Wharekura to prison but Wharekura’s “strong preference” was to remain at the Mason Clinic on a kaupapa Māori pathway.
The decision noted Wharekura was comfortable at the Mason Clinic and his mental health was stable as was his medication regime.
The board would see Wharekura again in August 2025, regardless of the Court of Appeal outcome, and it requested a “full psychological addendum” in the meantime.
The board also noted Wharekura was reluctant to engage with his case manager for the parole assessment and the board members encouraged him to participate in preparing both reports for his next appearance.
“As we emphasised to him, his contribution to the process is helpful and important when the board is considering parole,” the decision said.
Wharekura appeared before the board for the first time in 2016 having served 14 years, his non-parole period.
The board’s decision then 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 board said in 2016 that it was now clear that 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.
Mum questions insanity claim
Val Burr told the Rotorua Daily Post she recalled Wharekura’s lawyer, the late Harry Edward, raised the issue about Wharekura’s mental state at the time of entering his plea.
She said assessments were done then and it was deemed he was not insane. She said insanity had not been used as a defence for any of his other violent offending while in prison, apart from the most recent incident determined last year.
Tanya Burr's mother Val Burr (left) and Tanya Burr's close friends at the time of her death Anita Bennett (middle) and Emma Jenkins hug not long after her murder. Photo / NZME
She suggested his lawyer sift through the boxes of evidence, like she had at her home, that relied on experts at the time who deemed he was not insane.
She said she did not want anyone to think time had passed and her daughter’s family did not care about the outcome.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
