Man jailed for life for 'monstrous' murder of Christchurch woman Angela Blackmoore in 1995

The 21-year-old was nine weeks pregnant when she was stabbed in her own home in 1995.

Cold case killer Jeremy Powell has been jailed for life, with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years, in one of New Zealand’s longest-running murder investigations for the "monstrous" killing of Angela Blackmoore.

Powell was sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch today.

The 45-year-old recently pleaded guilty to the killing of the 21-year-old Christchurch woman in 1995. 

Jeremy Powell apologised for the brutal killing in court today as he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

She was 10 weeks pregnant when she was stabbed 39 times in her home as her young son slept in the room next door.

Her partner, Laurie Anderson, was in tears as he spoke directly to Powell. 

"There is no excuse for this cruel act, she was like a lamb to the slaughter with no defence.

"She will always be my true love, she is my love. That will never leave me."

Jeremy Powell, 45, stabbed 21-year-old Angela Blackmoore to death in 1995.

In a victim impact statement, her cousin Gillian Purvis asked Powell: "What were you thinking when you were stabbing and attacking Angela? What did she ever do to you? ... The brutality was extreme, did she scream, did she beg you to stop? These are the questions we still have."

"You broke our family and we will never be complete... I can never forgive you."

Powell told police he carried out a "hit" for $10,000, carrying a bat and a large knife, hidden in a trench coat, to the scene.

Powell’s defence lawyer told the court: "He wasn’t a cold blooded hitman of any sort... He has told me he has struggled with this crime for all these years."

Justice Cameron Mander described the killing as "cold and monstrous". 

He used a different sentencing regime given the historic nature of the crime, basing the non-parole period on sentences handed down at the time of the killing. 

"The killing took the form of a brutal attack, bashing Angela with the bat and stabbing her multiple times. 

"You were not aware at the time she was nine weeks pregnant, but you left a young boy motherless." 

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