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The man acquitted of murdering Feilding farmer Scott Guy has remarried in a secret wedding.
Ewen Macdonald married Joyce Braas in Dunedin on October 12.
Macdonald's ex-wife Anna Guy wasn't present but said the ceremony was small and attended by Macdonald and Braas' seven children.
She said she'd met Braas briefly on one occasion "for about five minutes, that's it".
Braas' mother Ria Blokdyke didn't go to the wedding either.
Blokdyke said she found out about it when her daughter phoned her two days after it happened.
"She told me on my birthday ... it was a big secret I think.
"All her brothers and sisters were at my birthday. That's why she phoned me to tell me. The brothers and sisters didn't go to the wedding."
Cleared of murdering Scott Guy, Macdonald was convicted of other offences against the Guy family.
The newly married couple, who live in Christchurch, visited Blokdyke twice before the wedding.
She wasn't aware of her son-in-law's criminal past when she first met him, she said.
"My first impression was that he was a nice bloke until my other daughter saw his ankle bracelet.
"I didn't see that the first time. My first impression was he was a nice bloke, then I'd heard all the things he's done."
Blokdyke said she fell out with her daughter after separating from her husband eight years ago. He is now living with Braas and Macdonald.
Asked what she'd say to her daughter, she replied: "She is a grown-up woman. If she's happy with him that's her choice."
Scott Guy died after being shot at close range with a shotgun outside his rural property in the early hours of July 8, 2010.
In 2012, Ewen Macdonald was found not guilty of murdering him.
He was jailed for five years for other offences, including vandalising the farmhouse where Guy lived with wife Kylee, killing 19 calves and burning down a 110-year-old building.
He was denied parole four times before it was granted in 2015 with strict conditions.
They included electronic monitoring, a ban on entering the North Island, a ban on possessing or using firearms and a ban on communication or association with co-offender Callum Boe.
Boe declined to comment tonight.
Ewen Macdonald's father Kerry and Scott Guy's dad Bryan could not be reached for comment.
The Herald reported in October 2016 Macdonald was a free man and had fallen in love.
His parole conditions expired that month and he was no longer monitored electronically.
At the time, Kerry Macdonald told the Herald his son was "doing really well and is in a good place".
He was working in forestry, had set up home in Christchurch and had a new girlfriend who was planning to move in.
"They are an item, they met through mutual friends - she is a lovely, lovely girl."
He said he never doubted his son's innocence in the Guy murder and believed the killer was still "out there".
"Ewen wants to get on with life - he doesn't want to drag things up or do any interviews or books - he doesn't want the attention. Basically, he doesn't have an axe to grind."
Anna Guy and Ewen MacDonald were childhood sweethearts. They met after Macdonald started working on the Guy family farm and married in 2001. Scott Guy was their best man.
Their marriage ended while Ewen was in prison. Anna moved to Auckland with their four children to be with her new partner. They have since had two children together.
Following her husband's murder, Kylee Guy left Feilding and returned to her hometown in the Hawke's Bay with their two sons. In late 2015 she gave birth to her third son with her new partner.
Last year, Bryan Guy was surprised to learn from the Herald that his former son-in-law was a free man. He said he and wife Jo, who were living near Kerry Macdonald and his wife Marlene in Feilding, were doing their best to move on.
"It's not easy, but if we hold onto the bitterness and hatred it will destroy us.
"At times we have been angry but you can't dwell on things. We can't bring Scott back so we have to look after each other and the family we do have."
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