Venod Skantha (32) was found guilty of the murder of 16-year-old Amber-Rose Rush and yesterday, before the High Court at Dunedin, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 19 years behind bars.
Lisa-Ann Rush found her daughter’s body in a pool of blood in the bedroom of her Corstorphine home on the morning of February 3, 2018.
Four months later, she died of a suspected suicide.
"She was more than a child, she was my best friend," Ms Rush wrote in a victim-impact statement read yesterday by her son, Jayden.
"I have lost the person who brought our family together ... I am completely broken, completely empty."
Her words gave an indication of the tragedy yet to unfold.
"I don’t feel like I can be the way I was. I constantly wish I wasn’t here and I was with Amber," Ms Rush said.
"I am constantly living with the nightmares of finding Amber ... It’s not a normal life, it’s an existence."
Justice Gerald Nation emphatically condemned Skantha’s acts.
"With the way you killed Amber-Rose, the way you simply left her to be found by members of her family and then told an associate what you had done ... showed not just a complete indifference to the sensitivities of others but an irrational arrogance," he said.
"I have no idea how anyone who had the discipline and intelligence to train as a doctor and whose vocation should have been to preserve life could have come to kill a young woman in the way you did.’’
It was clear, the judge said, that the murder — which he described as "efficient and clinical" — was committed to effectively silence Amber-Rose who, just minutes before she was killed, told Skantha she was going public with allegations of sexual assaults.
Any investigation into his conduct would have shown the doctor was "off the rails", Justice Nation said, and his medical career would have likely ended.
Skantha picked up a teenage boy — a mutual friend, who has permanent name suppression — and had him drive to the girl’s Clermiston Ave house.
The defendant was dressed in dark clothes, gloves and a beanie, evidence of his premeditation, Crown prosecutor Robin Bates said.
Skantha stabbed her six times after "smothering her with a pillow", the judge said.
After several minutes, Skantha emerged from the home with some of Amber-Rose’s belongings and a bloodied knife.
They dumped the victim’s phone at Blackhead then travelled to the doctor’s Fairfield home, where he admitted killing the teen.
During a two-night stay in Balclutha, the defendant burned the clothes he had worn to commit the murder but he could not remove all traces of the crime.
Forensic scientists later matched blood on his shoes to Amber-Rose, as well as other samples from inside Skantha’s BMW.
When the doctor dropped his young friend off, he claimed he would kill the boy, his family and his cat if he told police what happened.
Within hours, though, the boy did just that, and Skantha was arrested the same day. Interviewed by police, he repeatedly denied killing Amber-Rose.
Counsel Jonathan Eaton QC told the court his client "steadfastly maintained his innocence" and wanted to pass on his sympathies to the Rush family for their loss.
The court heard Skantha would appeal the convictions on the basis of a miscarriage of justice.
Amber-Rose’s father, Shane Rush, speaking outside court, said the sentence was lighter than they had hoped.
‘‘Myself and my children will just go on and be strong together,’’ he said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Rob Hanna said he was pleased the family finally got some answers.
‘‘I just take my hat off to how strong they’ve been,’’ he said.
