Daryen John Leslie Owens (49) was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in 2017 for the attempted murder of his ex-wife’s friend.
Since being in Invercargill Prison he had undertaken drug and violence counselling but was described as having “very high reintegrative needs”.
He was declined parole — for the second time — at a hearing this month after the board heard he had been deemed unsuitable to do a group rehabilitation course.
Instead, Owens was set to undertake individual psychological treatment but there was no start date yet set.
On February 7, 2016, the defendant turned up at a Cutten St house where his ex-partner, Leanne Donaldson, was living with the 40-year-old victim.
He told Ms Donaldson the victim was "going to get a ... lesson she would never forget".
Despite the chilling warning, she woke her friend and prompted her to answer the door.
Owens claimed that the woman had ruined his life, then grabbed her by the throat and head-butted her before stabbing her in the shoulder.
As she fled, he stabbed her four times in the back and a further nine times in the front of her body.
Before Owens left the property, he warned his ex-wife not to call emergency services.
"You know she is dead don’t you?" he said.
The victims sustained a lacerated liver, a punctured lung and injuries to her thoracic spine. Medical staff said she had been lucky to survive.
Police found Owens’ bloody finger and palm print at the South Dunedin crime scene.
The Parole Board heard the inmate was working in the prison gardens but could only manage four-hour shifts because of pain he experienced.
Despite that, a Corrections officer gave him a glowing report, calling him “a model prisoner, well-behaved and an excellent worker”.
While Owens had approved accommodation should parole be granted, panel convener Serina Bailey said it was important he underwent psychological sessions before release.
She noted Owens had “very little support in the community ... in the way of family or friends or other personal support”.
He will appear before the board again in November.
