An Iraqi refugee murdered two men without compassion or hesitation when they stood in the way of his mission to kill his former girlfriend, a court was told today.
The two good, law-abiding citizens were slain in a frenzied attack that showed a high level of brutality, cruelty and callousness, Justice Rhys Harrison said in the High Court at Auckland.
He sentenced Baseem Ridha Kadhim Abbad Al Amery, who has New Zealand citizenship, to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18 years for murdering Welshman David Roberts, 43, and Indonesian man Deni Rudiantonio, 41.
The judge said words did not reflect the ferocity of the attack which left the two victims dead in the Alpha Apartment Complex in Vogel Lane, downtown Auckland on July 19, last year.
Mr Roberts was the property manager and Al Amery had demanded a master key so he could get into the apartment of his former girlfriend Ying Wang to kill her.
When Mr Roberts refused to hand over the key, he was stabbed 12 times and Mr Rudiantonio was stabbed 18 times.
Mr Roberts' windpipe was partially cut and both jugular veins were severed. His spinal cord in his upper back was also severed, and he had chest wounds.
The attack on Mr Rudiantonio severed his windpipe, both carotid arteries and one jugular vein. Stab wounds in his chest damaged his heart, lungs, diaphragm, stomach and liver.
After killing the two men, Al Amery changed into clean clothes and shoes and went to his former girlfriend's apartment on the 11th floor.
He told her to get dressed as he was about to kill her.
For some reason he had a change of heart, said Judge Harrison.
He called a friend and told him he had killed two people.
When police arrived he was on the balcony of the 11th floor apartment, holding a knife to his neck and threatening to jump.
He surrendered after more than three hours of negotiations with police.
In court Al Amery's lawyer Charles Cato read part of a letter the defendant had written in Arabic, saying he was bleeding inside from the pain of what he had done.
God would not forgive him and he could not forgive himself.
"Please forgive me and pardon me."
However, the judge said his remorse was self-serving, self-obsessive and devoid of empathy for his victims.
Mr Cato earlier said Al Amery had been tortured and sentenced to death under the rule of the "monstrous man" (Saddam) Hussein.
However, the judge told him if he had a second chance in a country like New Zealand which valued the sanctity of human life, he should respect that.
Outside the court Craig McConnochie, a friend of the two dead men, said the sentence gave "some sort of closure".
"They were such nice guys, very gentle."
He said he did not believe a word of Al Amery's remorse.
"I am not a very forgiving person and I am finding it very difficult to get over what he did," Mr McConnochie said.
