KEY POINTS:
The parents of murdered German backpacker Birgit Brauer are relieved at the life sentence with a non-parole period of 18 years handed down to Michael Scott Wallace today.
Wallace, 46, sporting a new close-cropped haircut and unshaven face, showed no emotion but sat attentively in the dock of the High Court at New Plymouth during his sentencing.
In August he was found guilty murdering the 28-year-old tourist, whose beaten and stabbed body was found in Lucy's Gully, near Oakura, southwest of New Plymouth, on September 20, 2005.
Miss Brauer's parents Knut and Annemarie did not travel from Germany for the sentencing but court interpreter Peter Stachurski rang them with the news.
They replied that they were happy with the way police had handled the case and the sentence was another step in the healing process.
During the sentencing a victim impact statement was read to the court in which Miss Brauer's parents said the events of the 2005 attack would never leave them.
"To this day we cannot believe Birgit is not with us. A criminal like him does not deserve to live," the statement said.
Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke, in calling for a minimum non-parole period of 20 years, cited a "callous and brutal" murder.
Ms Clarke said Miss Brauer was vulnerable as a 28-year-old female backpacker and had been unconscious before she was dragged into the bushes at Lucy's Gully where Wallace stabbed her through the heart - killing her so he would avoid detection.
Ms Clarke also noted the level of international interest in the case which had reflected badly on this country and its community.
Wallace's lawyer, Greg King, said while Wallace maintained his innocence he accepted the minimum sentence for murder was life imprisonment.
He noted several recent cases where more brutal murderers had received lesser non-parole periods than the Crown was seeking.
Mr King said the provisions of the Sentencing Act meant preventive detention was not applicable and called for a non-parole period of 10 years.
Justice Mark Cooper told Wallace the idea of packing his car up, picking up a hitchhiker and murdering her put the offence "in a whole new category".
"Your pre-sentence report shows nothing that mitigates this offence. You've lived a transient life where alcohol and drug abuse was common - indeed you say your use of methamphetamine meant you had no memory of the 1-1/2 weeks you spent on the road at that time.
"You deny the crime, have not shown any measure of remorse and showed no motivation to address your offending."
He also did not cooperate with the Probation Service in preparing the report.
"There are no mitigating factors," Justice Cooper said.
Wallace, who had previous convictions including one for the abduction and rape of a young woman in 1984, picked up Ms Brauer as she hitchhiked between Wanganui and New Plymouth.
He drove her to Lucy's Gully where he beat her in the head with a metal bar, then dragged her into bush and stabbed her once through the heart.
When arrested 18 days later after a manhunt in the lower North Island, Wallace told police he didn't want to hurt people but he had, and said he'd be better off if police had shot him.
He had been using drugs, including pure methamphetamine, and said he could not tell what was real and what wasn't.
Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward, who headed the murder investigation, said after the sentencing that the police were satisfied with the outcome.
- NZPA
