Man found guilty of murder is son of convicted killer

Demis Peter Paul, convicted yesterday of murdering a Palmerston North toddler while on home detention, is himself the son of a convicted killer.

Police sources in Taranaki confirmed Paul is the son of Jan Yorke, a prostitute who used the trade name Velvet.

Yorke is serving a minimum 13 years for the 1995 killing of her lover's wife, Nicola Goodwin, and the attempted murder of another woman, in Taranaki.

Now Paul, too, faces a mandatory life sentence, with up to 17 years non-parole after a High Court jury found him guilty of murdering 14-month-old Mereana Clements-Matete.

The killing happened months after the parole board approved his release on home detention.

He was granted "back-end" home detention in September last year. Back-end applications allow a prisoner to apply for the scheme three months before a scheduled parole date.

Parole Board records show Paul had first applied for home detention in December 2003 after serving a third of his sentence. His application was declined.

He made an application for parole in March last year, which was also turned down.

He made a successful home detention application in September 2004, and was released to live with Mereana's mother, Kim Matete.

Another parole application on December 9 last year -- barely two weeks before Mereana's murder -- was declined, although the parole board was pleased with his progress on home detention.

Board spokesman Steve Rendle said the application was not out of the ordinary.

The decision to release Paul was based on a Corrections Department home detention report and an interview with Paul.

Paul had been serving a 27-month term for offences understood to include burglary, theft and drug offending. His crimes were not believed to have been violent in nature.

The Corrections Department yesterday refused an interview with the Manawatu Standard, but in a prepared response said: "Prior to his release, and in accordance with standard procedures, the Community Probation Service prepared a detailed home detention assessment report for the New Zealand Parole Board.

"The decision to release Mr Paul to home detention, and to impose the special conditions to which he was subjected, were made by the New Zealand Parole Board."

Paul was living with Mereana's mother at her Palmerston North home when he killed Mereana.

A High Court jury heard evidence that Paul became angry with the child when he was babysitting her on the evening of December 22.

He punched Mereana in the stomach when she would not stop screaming. The blow severed her small bowel and shredded her mesentery artery. She died within minutes.

Paul originally said Mereana's cousin, two-year-old Caleb, had jumped on the infant, but he revised his story in a police interview just before the trial began.

He maintained, however, he did not intend to kill the girl.

The jury took about five hours to reach its decision. Paul did not react to the guilty verdict.

Mereana's grandmother, Michelle Ngaira, was in court for the verdict and wept when it was delivered.

It was the end of a 10-month nightmare for the family, she said.

"We will (now) put our lives back together, and get on with it. He got what he deserves."

Paul will be sentenced on November 28.

The Government may look specifically at the case as part of a wider investigation into the home detention scheme.

Incoming Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor last night declined to discuss the case, but a spokeswoman said he was seeking a briefing from the department.

He was "obviously very concerned about the case... and maybe this will form some part of that (wider investigation)", the spokeswoman said.

Opposition MP Tony Ryall yesterday called for an investigation into supervision of prisoners on home detention.

"It is obvious this man was in a position of some risk to the child, and we need to find out whether or not he had appropriate supervision.

"The question here is, what was the level of supervision and were there any telltale signs of tension in the home which should ring alarms."

The jury that heard the Paul case was told he had been arguing with Mereana's mother shortly before he hit her. In a statement to police, he said he was still "pretty mad" at the time he punched Mereana.

- NZPA