Murderer Matakaua ‘Karl’ Ngaruaine Rouvi still blames victim after 13 years in jail

Karl Rouvi still claims he would not have murdered his partner if she had not woken him. Photo / ODT

Despite spending more than 13 years behind bars, a Dunedin killer is still blaming his victim for his frenzied attack.

Matakaua “Karl” Ngaruaine Rouvi, 64, stabbed his partner, 21-year-old Moana Anahera Marie Aranui, to death in January 2009 and received a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 12 years.

When he saw the Parole Board earlier this year there were concerns expressed about his lacklustre safety plan.

Little had changed when he appeared again last month and his release was again declined.

Board chairman Sir Ron Young said Rouvi’s plan remained “quite inadequate”.

“At the moment his approach... seems vague and uncertain and ill-defined.”

Of greater note was Rouvi’s discussion with the board regarding the circumstances of the murder.

“Rouvi stressed the fault of the victim, saying that she had woken him up when he was sleeping.

“Rouvi accepted that he had been drinking at the time, but said that the murder would never have happened if his partner had not woken him up.

“Obviously, after undertaking significant rehabilitation, to still have that attitude towards the murder is of serious concern,” Young said.

Rouvi had left his wife of many years to start a relationship with Aranui before things soured.

She ended her relationship with Rouvi after finding messages on his phone which suggested he had been unfaithful, and went to their Dunedin Bay View Rd home to tell the rest of the family she was moving out.

After an argument outside, Rouvi took two boning knives from his car and attacked the woman, inflicting 21 injuries.

The killer’s 29-year-old son tried to distract his father so the victim and other family members could escape.

Rouvi briefly chased Aranui before giving up and stabbing himself five times in the chest.

She died in a carport about 70m away.

The prisoner had two pages of convictions before the murder, which included an indecent assault in 1976 and several drug crimes.

Rouvi was assessed as being at low risk of reoffending. He worked in the dairy farm and kitchen in prison before getting work outside the wire.

He told the Parole Board he loved the job, and he had “very good reports” from his employer, Young said.

The next step was for Rouvi to create a safety plan in Cook Islands Māori which could then be translated into English ahead of his next hearing in April next year.