A 55-year-old man who murdered a young Christchurch woman last year killed another woman on the West Coast in the same way more than two decades ago.
Paul Russell Wilson, who changed his name to Paul Pounamu Tainui, was a groomsman at David Bain's wedding.
He appeared at the Christchurch High Court this morning to plead guilty to raping Merivale woman Nicole Marie Tuxford, 27, in April last year.
He had previously admitted killing her by cutting her throat.
Nicole’s family were in court crying quietly as he admitted to sexually violating her.
The Crown is seeking imprisonment without parole when he is sentenced next month.
Ms Tuxford was training to be a counsellor with the Phoenix Light Foundation. They described her as a "lovely, soft, caring young woman" who "just wanted to help people".
Tainui had knives in car at police checkpoint the night before killing
Police have previously confirmed that on the night before Ms Tuxford's death, Tainui was stopped by police at an alcohol checkpoint on Bealey Avenue in Christchurch and gave a positive reading.
He caught a taxi after he was processed, went directly to Ms Tuxford's property and waited for her overnight before raping and killing her when she arrived home the next morning, police said.
Superintendent John Price, Canterbury District Commander, confirmed today that while at the checkpoint Tainui informed police about two knives in his vehicle.
These knives were secured in the vehicle’s boot and police retained the keys so he did not have access to them, Mr Price said.
Tainui was on parole at the time of Ms Tuxford's killing. However, he was not in breach of his parole conditions when he was stopped, Mr Price said. These included two special conditions that he did not travel to the West Coast or have contact with his previous victim’s family.
"The experienced staff involved were also satisfied with the explanation he gave for the knives, which was that he needed them for work. Tainui had not come to police attention as an offender during the several years he had been on parole," Mr Price said.
"We reiterate our previous comment that our staff did not and could not predict his intentions when he left the checkpoint that night.
"His behaviour at the time gave no cause for concern, and there is no test which can predict human behaviour in these circumstances.
"Nevertheless this is a tragedy which has had a deep impact on the officers involved," he said.
Mr Price said police are committed to working with their justice sector partners "to identify any learnings which might arise from this tragedy".
"There is no certainty however, that anything could have made a difference to this tragic outcome given the specific circumstances involved that night," he added.
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