28th March 2019

Today Justice Cameron Mander had the opportunity to sentence convicted double murderer and rapist Paul Russel Wilson to a sentence of life in prison with no parole for the 2018 murder of Nicole Tuxford. This would have been the first time that a true life sentence had ever been handed down in New Zealand, but instead the Judge opted for the sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum non parole period of 28 years!

Jayne Walker, South Island Victim/Survivor Advocate for the Sensible Sentencing Group Trust was in court this morning supporting Nicole’s family during the proceedings and she said “This is a massive disappointment and quite frankly in my opinion the Judge just didn’t have the balls! How would it be manifestly unjust to lock this killer up for life? It’s a slap in the face for the families of both his victims. Sitting in court today listening to the victim impact statements was profoundly heart-breaking. Nicole was a very much loved and adored young lady who is irreplaceable.” And now this depraved killer may one day have the opportunity to kill yet again!

Paul Wilson, who changed his name to Paul Pounamu Tainui, was out on parole when he killed Nicole last year. In 1994 he brutally murdered Kimberly Schroder on the West Coast. For Kimberly’s murder he was sentenced to LIFE IMPRISONMENT with a non-parole period of 15 years; this was reduced to 13 years on appeal. Parole decisions indicated that Wilson had an excessive number of psychological sessions in his final years behind bars, and despite this he was granted parole. He then went on to murder Nicole Tuxford in a planned and hideously violent way; very similar to when he murdered Kimberly Schroder.

Walker believes that this unimaginable tragedy was completely avoidable and says “there are so many unanswered questions; why didn’t the Police detain Wilson when he was caught drunk driving just hours before he raped, tortured and ultimately killed Nicole? Why were his workmates not informed of his deadly past? Why on earth did the Parole Board even let him out in the first place?” Walker added “Life imprisonment should be exactly what it says – life imprisonment! An evil and dangerous animal like Wilson should never even be considered for parole! Hindsight is useless and deadly. What good does it do to say “Oh we got that one wrong?”

Kimberly Schroder’s family appeared before the Parole Board for years, desperately urging the Parole Board to never let Wilson walk the streets again, claiming he was a dangerous predator and tragically this proved to be true. He had stalked Kimberly for two years before finally sexually assaulting her and killing her. After hearing the news that Wilson had killed Nicole last year, Gary Schroder joined his precious daughter Kimberly, by taking his own life.

“We believe that Wilson was responsible for two deaths last year. Our thoughts and love are with the families of both Nicole Tuxford and Kimberly Schroder.” Ends

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