Emotions flow at killer's sentencing

Joseph Reekers was convicted last December of murdering Marie Jamieson. Photos / Richard Robinson, supplied

There were emotional scenes in court as murderer Joseph Reekers was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 15 years.

Marie Jamieson, 23, was last seen alive as she crossed a service station forecourt in Kingsland on February 10, 2001. Her naked body was found nine days later.

As Reekers was led into the cells by two security guards this afternoon, one of Ms Jamieson's family members yelled out: "I hope you rot in prison, you cowardly piece of shit". Another yelled out "scum".

His daughter yelled out "I love you, Dad."

Ms Jamieson's parents, Gerry and Yvonne, embraced after Justice Stevens read out his verdict to a packed High Court in Auckland.

Reekers had sat without a trace of emotion on his face as the court heard how Ms Jamieson had been stabbed at least three times in the chest and her naked body dumped behind a factory in Ranui.

Justice Stevens acknowledged Reekers' early guilty plea in proceedings and his "remorse that you are belatedly showing to the plight of the relatives in this case".

"You claimed that there was a context of heavy use of methamphetamine but that is no excuse. Allegedly because of an argument, you took up a weapon," Justice Stevens said.

He said Reekers told a probation officer before being sentenced that he had spent four days with Ms Jamieson and had been taking methamphetamine.

Justice Stevens said Ms Jamieson was stabbed in the chest three times and had a stab wound to her throat area, although Reekers told police that he had no memory of stabbing her in the throat before dumping her body.

"No doubt you thought that any delay in discovering the body, and it decomposing, would aid you," Justice Stevens said.

He said, according to the probation report, Reekers had given up drugs after the murder and was a solo father.

"You thought about turning yourself in but decided against it because of the consequences to your family," Justice Stevens said.

The probation report also found that Reekers posed a high risk of re-offending.

Earlier, Justice Stevens said police were only able to solve the murder after Reekers had been caught stealing a salami and he was asked for a DNA sample.

Reekers' sample matched the one found on Ms Jamieson's body.

Justice Stevens told the court that he had found the victim impact statement of Ms Jamieson's sister "deeply moving".

Linda Palmer accused Reekers of killing her sister for his "own depraved pleasure."

She said the day Ms Jamieson's body was found naked behind a factory was "the most mind numbing experience of my life".

Mrs Palmer said people like Reekers were "lurking around, waiting for some poor victim to prey on".

She said Ms Jamieson has been terribly missed.

"Our lives will never be the same but we are strong. Not even Joseph Reekers can take away our memories, although he's taken away our future memories," Mrs Palmer said.

Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery told the court that Reekers has a criminal history that stretches back into the 1970s and includes over 70 charges of burglary and theft as well as a 1978 rape and indecent assault charge for which Reekers served five and-a-half years in prison.

He pointed out that Reekers used a knife during the 1978 rape and it was violent.

Mr Raftery described Reekers' murder of Ms Jamieson as "involving brutality and callousness".

"The last moments of this young woman's life must have been horrific," Mr Raftery said.

He acknowledged that there was an early guilty plea but Reekers had tried to challenge the police on taking a DNA sample.

Mr Raftery said the offending was aggravated by the fact that Reekers dumped Ms Jamieson's naked body behind a West Auckland factory and that would have had a devastating impact on the Jamieson family.

Reekers' lawyer Chris Comeskey said his client was remorseful and had pleaded guilty at an early stage in proceedings to save the family from a trial.

How police solved a cold case

Marie Jamieson, 23, was last seen alive as she crossed a service station forecourt in Kingsland on February 10, 2001. Her naked body was found nine days later.

Seven years passed before police were able to match the DNA found on Ms Jamieson's clothing to the man who stole an $8.20 salami from a Pak 'n Save in West Auckland.

The conviction for shoplifting allowed them to issue a compulsion order to take DNA from Reekers.

Under the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Act, police can issue an order following conviction for offences such as theft, rape and arson.

It is understood Reekers, after some reluctance, complied with the order in June last year, shortly before his arrest was announced.

His sample matched the one found on Ms Jamieson's body and was the long-awaited break police needed.

Reekers was already a "person of interest" to the inquiry. His name surfaced after police retested the DNA sample with new technology in January 2008.

When a search of the DNA database failed to find a direct hit, police ordered a familial DNA test, which identifies similar genetic traits such as those of a relative.

The Herald understands the familial test on the sample identified Reekers' half-sister. Further inquiries from police into her family identified Joseph Reekers, who lived in West Auckland at the time of the murder and had a previous conviction for rape.

From that point, he was a suspect and the salami theft sample became the evidence required to lay charges.

Two months later, Reekers was arrested in Kaitaia and charged with raping and murdering Ms Jamieson.

Reekers pleaded guilty in the High Court at Auckland to murder last December. The Crown withdrew a rape charge.