KEY POINTS:
The woman convicted of murdering Marton pensioner Mona Morriss and burgling her flat will serve 19 years' jail before she can apply for parole.
Tracy Jean Goodman, 44, cried in the dock in High Court in Wanganui today, as Justice Mark Cooper told her she would be jailed for "a very long time".
Mrs Morriss bled to death on January 3, after she was punched or kicked several times in the head and stabbed six times in the area around her heart while she was unconscious or semi conscious.
Today Goodman was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder and given a minimum non-parole period of 19 years.
She was jailed for two years for burglary, to be served concurrently with that sentence.
Goodman, who was convicted on September 28, is already serving seven years on 86 burglary convictions, a sentence that will now be served concurrently with the life sentence.
In his submission to the judge, crown prosecutor Andrew Cameron said the nature of Goodman's crime warranted a minimum non-parole period between 18 and 20 years.
Goodman was a "career burglar" who preyed on elderly people and had attacked and murdered Mrs Morriss in her Marton flat to avoid detection for burgling her.
He described Goodman as "calculating, callous and cruel" and capable of inflicting extreme violence.
In the attack against the frail 83 year-old there was a disparity in age, strength, size and agility, he said.
In sentencing Goodman, Justice Cooper said such crimes against defenceless elderly people in their homes could not be tolerated and must be denounced.
Goodman's life had been dominated by two main influences - an addiction to drugs and burglary, for which she more than 100 prior convictions.
Although the murder of Mrs Morriss was an "aberration" in her usual offending, which was not violent, the only plausible explanation for it was that she wanted to avoid detection and prosecution.
The only reason Goodman was in Mrs Morriss' home was to burgle her, as they had no relationship or ties, and she had acted to eliminate the possibility of being identified, he said.
Goodman had shown no remorse for the murder of Mrs Morriss, who in 2005 was still active and enjoying her life.
The murder had left her family "devastated", with emotional injuries unlikely ever to heal.
He expressed his "heartfelt sympathy" to the Morriss family for what they had suffered.
After the sentencing, defence counsel Mike Antunovic said they would lodge an appeal against the conviction.
- NZPA
