Lance Hall was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 13 years. Photo / NZME
From the dock, Lance Hall pulled faces, pretended to cry, and made gun gestures with his hands toward the grieving family of the man he killed—actions that added to the torment they endured throughout the trial.
Yet Hall’s arrogance could not break the resolve of Jason McNae’s loved ones, who remained steadfast in their commitment to honour McNae for the man he was, not the tragic way he died.
“He was a loving, father and partner, a caring person,” the mother of his two preschoolers told the court. “He really did have a big heart for all. Jason was my person, I loved Jason so much.”
Hall, 51, was found guilty of murder in October by a jury and appeared for sentencing in the High Court at Whangārei on Tuesday.
The court heard Hall had been kicked out of a flat in an apartment complex in late May 2023 and asked another resident, Cody Rudolph, whether he could move into his spare room.
Rudolph agreed, but the living arrangement began to sour quickly with several incidents of aggressive behaviour from Hall towards Rudolph, including an assault.
On the evening of June 19, 2023, Hall was downstairs attempting to socialise with several residents drinking in a carport but witnesses who gave evidence at trial said Hall’s behaviour was aggressive, bullying and intimidating.
When Rudolph came downstairs to attempt to defuse Hall’s behaviour over an access card, Hall punched him and Rudolph called friends to help remove him from his flat.
McNae, Courtney and Kelly Rapata and Boston Tahitahi arrived to assist Rudolph and were captured on CCTV heading towards a stairwell with Hall following them.
The key evidence at trial was CCTV that captured the group heading up the stairwell and Hall turning and stabbing McNae, who was behind him, in the neck with a pair of scissors, leaving two wounds, one 6.5cm deep and cutting through the jugular vein.
Courtney, who was ahead of Hall on the stairwell and the first to reach McNae, said Hall announced to her, “You better come help him or he’s going to die”.
As McNae stumbled out to the carpark and friends attempted to assist. Hall was captured antagonising people by kicking their car and blocking others from intervening.
McNae died at the scene.
Throughout the trial, the gallery was full of McNae’s loved ones, including the whānau he was raised with, the mother of his children, his new partner and her whānau.
Six victim impact statements were read in court and throughout their speeches, Hall pulled faces, pretended to cry, made gun gestures gun towards the back of the gallery and attempted to declare McNae had died of a heart attack.
Despite his behaviour, the whānau remained resolute in expressing to the court the trauma they had endured.
The victims all expressed the torment of having to sit through Hall’s behaviour at trial, with no voice and unable to speak up about what they had been through.
“We felt powerless, voiceless and hopeless. We had no real opportunity to express what happened to us.
“You sat and tormented people with your many rude gestures, words or whatever it was which continued to exacerbate the trauma we are already experiencing, you did not show one bit of respect,” one of McNae’s cousins said.
McNae was from Te Kāo and was adopted into the Kaipo whānau of Otāngarei with his only blood-related sibling, Belinda.
Whānau told the court, that growing up in Otāngarei he did well at school, was well-liked with a lot of friends and his most recognisable phrase was “Hey, mate.”
He had two children under the age of 5 and their mother said they had been robbed of memories and reaching milestones together.
McNae had recently secured a new job in farming and was working towards a lifelong dream of moving home to Te Kāo.
He was an outdoorsman who loved adventure. In 2015, he won a Whangārei Council award for providing mentoring support to young people and changing the lives of others.
“He thought he could change the world and it was in his nature to try and help that day,” another victim said.
Throughout the trial, Hall claimed he was attacked by the group and was acting in self-defence but Justice Grant Powell refused to accept his claim.
“They [the group] are heading to the entrance, Mr Hall comes forward to them but they end up walking around him and enter the corridor.
“He’s not targeted in any way, shape or form. He chooses to go into that corridor,” Justice Powell said.
Justice Powell also highlighted Hall’s behaviour after he stabbed McNae as being truly extraordinary.
“Somebody that’s just stabbed somebody and makes such a show of it, strutting up and down. You can see what’s happening, it really is truly extraordinary.
“When people with goodwill are panicking and someone is there waving scissors, shouting and making an unendurable situation much worse.”
Hall told pre-sentence report writers he was remorseful yet also said he intends to appeal any sentence imposed.
“That does not indicate remorse at all,” Justice Powell said.
Justice Powell acknowledged the deep impact McNae’s death had on the victims and reminded Hall that none of his assertions of self-defence were true.
“Throughout the entire incident, the only one that was aggressive was you.”
Justice Powell noted Hall had 59 convictions spanning almost 40 years with 15 violent offences and gave him no discount off his sentence.
Hall was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 13 years.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
The judge wants further information before convicting him on child assault charges.