KEY POINTS:
Lois Dear's family are relieved at her murderer's guilty plea, but say they will never have closure.
"It [the murder] will be like a bit of rotten graffiti that's written on the wall of our family history, and it's just graffiti you can't take away," her brother, Harley Dear, said yesterday.
The pain of losing his sister was still intense.
"She's been taken from us. She was in good health. There was no reason why she couldn't live for quite some time - many, many years - but no, that was all of a sudden just taken away from us by a brutal act."
The only comfort for the family was that they did not have to sit through a trial.
Ms Dear's son, Kevin McNeil, said: "It's certainly no closure for us but it certainly makes the process a lot easier - straight to sentencing now, so hopefully he [Whetu Te Hiko] is away for a hell of a long time."
The seven months since Te Hiko, 23, bashed Ms Dear to death in her Strathmore School classroom had been "bloody hard".
"It's a huge thing to go through and it's a lot to carry. You've got to work each day, you're bringing up kids, you're thinking about Mum, you're waking up at 3 o'clock in the morning, every morning. You think of Mum's last final moment [when] she was knocked around. That's the hard part. You think of that all the time."
Earlier, as Te Hiko was led from the courtroom after pleading guilty, Mr McNeil cursed him. It was the first time one of Ms Dear's family had yelled out in court and Mr McNeil said the outburst was the result of pent-up anger.
"It's pretty hard being a victim and not being able to approach or talk to the person that's killed your mother. [I'd] like to get a lot closer to him but you can't, can you?"
Asked what he would do if he could, he said, "Probably nothing. I'd hate to be locked away."
Ms Dear's daughter, Jan Armstrong, standing beside Mr McNeil outside the court, could not restrain her tears.
She had been overcome with emotion in the court too, leaning forward and being comforted by a relative when Te Hiko said "Guilty, your honour" from the dock.
During the short appearance, Te Hiko stood with his head bowed and his hands behind his back, only looking up when the court registrar asked him how he pleaded.
Justice John Wild convicted him of the July 16 murder and remanded him in custody for sentencing on May 4.
The judge also ruled that the media had a right to publish evidence from the case, despite arguments from Te Hiko's lawyers that he had a right to privacy.
Ms Dear's family supported the decision.
"I'm pleased they released it all," said Mr McNeil. "He [Te Hiko] showed Mum no dignity. He treated Mum like a dog. No dignity for Mum, so I'm pleased there's no dignity for him."
Members of Te Hiko's family were also in court but declined to comment.
