Police who stopped a convicted rapist and murderer at a checkpoint just hours before he killed again were unaware he was on life parole, a Coroner has heard.
Police told the Coroner's Court the murder of Nicole Tuxford by Paul Tainui has completely changed the way police manage life parolees, so they and the Department of Corrections can pick up red flags.
Detective Inspector Scott Anderson started by addressing the families of Paul Tainui's victims.
"For the burden of grief you carry for Kim, Nicole and Gary," Det Insp Anderson said.
Three deaths in two families - two of Tainui's murder victims and a suspected suicide.
Det Insp Anderson told the Coroner that police were ill-equipped to properly deal with people like Tainui.
"As a direct result of Ms Tuxford's murder, it was clear that there was no process set out in how life parolees were identified by police and the subsequent action that was required to be taken," he said.
Tainui was on parole for the 1994 murder of his ex-girlfriend Kimberley Schroder when he raped and murdered Tuxford at her home.
Kimberley's father Gary died in a suspected suicide three days later.
The court heard in the seven years Tainui was out of prison before murdering Tuxford, police recorded 10 incidents with Tainui, mostly for traffic offences. But only four of the 10 were reported to Corrections, which had the overall responsibility for life parolees.
Police told the court there are currently 460 life parolees in the country. But there are now more robust systems in place to monitor them, including an app on all police officer's phones.
"The Checkpoint app is on all police iPhones and contains reference material that police have, that police can access anywhere anytime," Det Insp Anderson said.
The Coroner also heard that after Tainui left prison, he was helped to get employment by a service that helped former inmates. His employer decided to keep the convictions for his first rape and murder a secret.
It was at this workplace Tainui met colleague Tuxford, who he befriended and later killed.
"Tainui became angry with another employee when he was challenged about doing electrical work at Ms Tuxford's house," Det Insp Anderson said.
His co-workers only found out about his convictions after reading he was David Bain's groomsman.
"After a news article about David Bain it became known that Tainui had a criminal past," Det Insp Anderson said.
The Coroner is now unpicking what more might have been done then to stop his criminal future.
