Blessie's killer: New suppression twist

Blessie Gotingco.

The man who raped and murdered Blessie Gotingco has lost a bid for permanent name suppression.

However, the Herald remains prohibited from publishing his name for legal reasons.

The 28-year-old was found guilty on May 21 of raping and killing Mrs Gotingco, a mother of three, on Auckland's North Shore in May last year.

He had name suppression throughout his trial to prevent jurors from learning about his previous convictions.

After the jury returned guilty verdicts in the High Court at Auckland, Justice Timothy Brewer said there was no reason for the defendant's name suppression to continue.
However, the killer appealed against that decision to a higher court.

The Court of Appeal considered his application last month and released its decision this afternoon.

The appeal has been dismissed but the Court of Appeal said the High Court's interim name suppression order would continue.

The reasons for the decision are suppressed.

Mrs Gotingco's family were disappointed by today's decision.

"From the moment Blessie went missing her identity and the heinous details of her suffering have made international headlines," the family said in a statement to the Herald.

"This evil offender however was a coward right up until his conviction by a jury and is still continuing to hide."

The Gotingco family said the "frivolous" appeals "merely serve to revictimise our family".

"As a family we look forward to open and transparent justice being delivered in the near future and in the meantime we are mentally preparing for the sentencing hearing in the hope that the public will finally be protected from this monster once and for all."