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A family who lost a son, their son's partner, a grandson and unborn grandchild to one of New Zealand's worst mass murderers have broken an almost 15-year silence, warning ahead of Raymond Ratima's June parole hearing that he should never be set free.
Nelson and Noeline Tepu spoke with the Wairarapa Times-Age in an interview published yesterday, almost 15 years after Ratima killed their son Bevan, 21, his 3-year-old son Stephen and Bevan's partner Nicola Ferguson, the mother of his unborn child.
The Tepus oppose Ratima ever being released and say he "should stay where he is for the rest of his life".
On June 25, 1992, Ratima, then aged 25, bludgeoned and stabbed seven members of his family to death - Ms Ferguson, 20, who was his sister-in-law, Bevan Tepu, Stephen Tepu, Ms Ferguson's brother Phillip Ferguson jnr, 14, and Ratima's sons Piripi, 7, Barney, 5, and Stacey, 2.
Ratima was jailed for life after pleading guilty to seven counts of murder, attempted murder and killing an unborn child.
Mr and Mrs Tepu have watched the younger members of their family, now reaching adulthood, struggling under the burden of their loss and a need to understand.
"The children have had to suffer through it. There was some trouble at school when they were younger and we've answered what we could, alongside their friends and the other side of their families," the couple said.
"It's been for them that we've not spoken out all these years - to protect them."
Ratima first came up for parole in July 2003, but this was vehemently opposed by family and others.
He was again denied parole at a hearing last year, when the Parole Board said he had "taken the right steps" but the path towards parole would be gradual and careful.
The board supported a recommendation that Ratima be transferred to Christchurch Prison's self-care villas and noted he had confronted his life-long cannabis addiction and had been drug-free since September 2005.
Mr Tepu, a retired coach and truck-driver and newly appointed Maori warden, said he had struggled with the idea of Ratima being released and would consider it an injustice to the victims and their families if he was ever set free.
- NZPA
