KEY POINTS:
Even after he had been shot three times by convicted killer Graeme Burton, Karl Kuchenbecker managed to get up to defend his beloved quad bike - only to be attacked again with a hunting knife.
The slain man's father, Paul Kuchenbecker, told TVNZ's Sunday programme, in his first interview, that he was proud of his son's "huge courage" when confronted by the heavily armed parolee while quad biking in Lower Hutt last month.
But Mr Kuchenbecker said he wished his son - a 26-year-old father of two - had handed over his bike.
"He said to me 'Dad, no one will take this bike off me', because it meant so much to him," Mr Kuchenbecker said on TV One last night.
"And I know up there on the fire break he would have stood up and paid for it dearly. I wish to Christ he just gave it to [Burton]."
The current-affairs show graphically detailed Karl's final moments, which came at the end of a days-long rampage by Burton.
Karl was apparently blown off his bike by the first shotgun blast before Burton stood over him and shot him twice more, shattering his left wrist and wounding his legs and feet.
Karl managed to get to his feet one last time before Burton took to him with a hunting knife.
"The brutality that Burton dished out, I wouldn't do it to an animal," Mr Kuchenbecker said.
Burton pleaded guilty to the murder this month and is due to be sentenced in April.
Mr Kuchenbecker and his wife, Lyn, spend time at their only son's home to have a sense of him around. Their lives stayed on hold while they tried to come to terms with their loss.
Mr Kuchenbecker said he was bewildered to be called by authorities soon after Karl's funeral and asked if he needed to go on the list to be advised when Burton comes up for parole.
He said he understood it was a formality but it was astounding.
"That's what the whole system's about, these guidelines these people stick to and do not use commonsense and logic and feelings for somebody else.
"You're thinking, 'hang on, this guy's just pleaded guilty to murdering my son and someone's asking about parole already'."
The Kuchenbeckers blame their son's death on the Parole Board, which released Burton last year after he served 14 years of a life sentence for killing lighting technician Paul Neville Anderson.
Mr Kuchenbecker said the board acted with "gross negligence" in releasing Burton.
Parole Board chairman Judge David Carruthers had expressed deep personal responsibility for Karl's death and said the decision to release Burton was not taken lightly. The board's decision was undergoing an independent review.
