Killer freed only months before Marie murdered

Dean Stewart Cameron (L) has been jailed for life for the rape and murder of schoolgirl Marie Davis (R). Photos / Christchurch Star, File

Rapist Dean Stewart Cameron had been out of prison only nine months when he found his next target.

The 39-year-old Christchurch road worker overheard a conversation between his niece and her friend.

That friend, Marie Davis, 15, mentioned she was going to be home alone for the weekend.

Cameron called Marie's home to check she was there, then went to the house in the early hours of April 6 last year, and raped and murdered her, wrapping her naked body in bedding and throwing her into the Waimakariri River, north of Christchurch.

It was 12 days, as her family clung to hope, before Marie's body was found.

"You robbed her of her life, you robbed of her future," Justice Lester Chisholm told Cameron yesterday in the High Court at Christchurch, as he imposed an open-endedsentence of preventive detention.

"It's every parent's worst fear."

Cameron must serve at least 19 years behind bars before he can be considered for release.

Marie's mother, Janet Davis, looked Cameron in the eye yesterday as she told of the devastation of losing her beautiful, talented, loving daughter.

"My life felt, and still does feel, so empty without Marie. The most important job in the world to me was to be a good mother to my daughters," Mrs Davis said.

"Dean Cameron has destroyed my family for no good reason. There are a lot of things I will never know about what happened to Marie and I find that hard.

"I have nightmares where I dream Marie is in the river, alive. I wake up and I can't breathe."

Justice Chisholm said he found it "despicable" that Cameron had shown no remorse.

"Even though, as I understand it, you want to preserve your rights of appeal, and possibly this is an underlying factor in your attitude."

The judge said Cameron had a lengthy list of previous convictions, including dishonesty, breaches of court orders, violence and rape.

After a relationship between Cameron and the mother of his two children ended, his former partner obtained a protection order in 2001.

In 2002, Cameron was found guilty of sexually violating his former partner and was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, the judge said.

When released on parole in 2005, he failed to complete his rehabilitation programme, and was recalled to prison.

It was only nine months after his final release from prison that he raped and killed Marie, the judge said.

Justice Chisholm said he took into account Marie's vulnerability, the premeditation of the crime, the callous nature of the attack and the safetyof the community in deciding on the sentence.

Outside court, Mrs Davis said she was pleased at the jail term, but angry at Cameron's lack of remorse.

"He's kind of got what he deserves, but it's never going to bring Marie back."