Constable John Cunningham (33) was recently awarded a New Zealand Police Commissioner's commendation for his "courage and professionalism" in handling the job.
Yesterday, he said he accepted the award reluctantly.
"It's an honour, but there's no need for it. Any other police officer would have done the same thing."
Const Cunningham was the nearest available officer to the Elliotts' Ravensbourne home on January 9 last year, when he was dispatched to the incident, coded as a male assaulting a female.
When he reached Miss Elliott's bedroom door, he called for it to be opened or he would kick it in.
When the door was opened, he stepped into the bedroom and saw Miss Elliott's dead body on the floor, her neck and upper torso covered in blood.
A man, Miss Elliott's former boyfriend Clayton Weatherston, was calmly standing near her feet.
A forensic analysis would later find she had been stabbed or cut 216 times.
Const Cunningham asked Weatherston what he had done and he replied he had killed Miss Elliott.
He was ordered to lie face down on the floor, which he did willingly, was handcuffed and formally cautioned.
Weatherston was later jailed for life, with a minimum non-parole term of 18 years for Miss Elliott's murder.
The commissioner's commendation said: "Constable Cunningham's courage and professionalism in entering a room where he knew the offender was present and in possession of a knife, together with his professionalism in dealing with the offender, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the New Zealand police."
Const Cunningham credited his response to good training.
Police never knew what they were going to find when they arrived at a crime scene, but were trained to deal with any scenario, he said.
"I'm a police officer. I showed up and I did my job."
Miss Elliott's mother, Lesley, said she and husband Gil were delighted Const Cunningham had received the commendation.
"We think it's great not only for his morale, but for the whole police force, when the great work they are doing out there everyday is recognised like this."
The whole police team involved in the case was amazing and should all have received commendations, she said.
