Naomi Lee Morrison (44) appeared before the High Court at Dunedin yesterday where she was jailed for life for the murder of 41-year-old Ameria Prunella Aroha Charlene Whatuira, with a minimum non-parole period of 12 years and three months.
The defendant could not explain her actions, only that she was heavily under the influence and "snapped", Justice Jan-Marie Doogue said.
The judge described the killing and the concealment of the body in the defendant’s backyard as "callous and depraved".
"[It] will only have compounded the anguish her death has caused her friends and family.
"While they agonised over her fate for 62 days and police continued their search, you did nothing as the body lay beneath your house," she said.
The court heard from several relatives of the victim who spoke of the acute pain they felt, particularly given it was the fourth whanau member who had been murdered.
An aunt said the last conversation she had with Ms Whatuira was about her saving money to buy a headstone for her son who died from suicide in 2017.
"Now she lies beside him," she said.
On August 6 last year, Morrison and the victim drank alcohol and smoked cannabis at the defendant’s Glenleith home.
The killer then taped a bin bag over Ms Whatuira’s head, wrapped her in bedding and left her on her deck for several days.
The court heard how she poured paint over her victim to mask the odour.
Eight days later, Morrison invited her friend Tialoren Topping over for a drinking session.
Together they rolled the body over the deck, dug a shallow grave and buried her with perfume to cover the smell.
Topping cleaned the garden tools, then they resumed drinking.
On September 1, police received a tip-off that there had been a murder at Tanner Rd.
A team searched the house and its steep, bushy backyard without success.
Two weeks later, however, Ms Whatuira’s family reported her missing and a formal investigation commenced.
On October 8, police again scoured the property and this time found the victim.
Counsel John Westgate said while his client could provide no explanation for her violent actions, she was "incredibly sorry" for what she had done.
He said she had some idea of what Ms Whatuira’s whanau felt since she too had lost a family member to murder.
"There’s a clear link between the defendant’s background and her spiralling into substance abuse and the destructive lifestyle she was living," said Mr Westgate.
"Her past issues with violence have not been gratuitous, but rooted in trauma."
Justice Doogue outlined Morrison’s history, accepting the defence suggestion, but suppressed the details.
"The harshness of a life punctuated by trauma has contributed to your tendency for violence," she said.
One of the victim’s cousins urged the court to impose a sentence that provided justice for the family.
"I hope the sentence is long and hard ... I hope she’s cold and she’s sober so she can experience the full weight of what she’s done.
"Most of all, I hope she becomes a better person," he said.
Topping was jailed for 13 months in May after admitting being an accessory to the murder.
