Previously he said: "At the age of 33 [Te Awa's] got a 21-year non-parole period. There's no consideration until you're 53. Most people are fairly institutionalised by then.
"He was braced for what was going to happen but still he's shocked.''
A jury also found Dean Michael Addison, 36, had ordered Ms Portman's kidnapping to teach her a lesson after the pair disagreed about the proposed manufacture of methamphetamine from pseudoephedrine she supplied him.
He was sentenced to 12 years' prison and must serve at least six years for kidnapping and drug offending.
Addison's lawyer Mark Ryan today said an appeal against both conviction and sentence was imminent.
"The appeal will be filed either Monday or Tuesday next week.''
Both Mr Ryan and Mr Kaye said it was too early to elaborate on the grounds for the appeals.
After Te Awa was sentenced, his upset mother Georgina Te Awa loudly proclaimed her son's innocence.
"I'm beyond hurt,'' she said outside court. "I want justice for Rae but I want the right p***k brought forward for it. I want the truth out.''
Te Awa had a long list of criminal offending and previously served time in jail for sexual offending against a boy aged under 12.
Addison had a history of only minor offending.
A third man, Lee Rigby, is serving a three-year, nine-month prison sentence for his part in the kidnapping. At last year's trial he gave evidence for the Crown.
When they were sentenced, the court was told of the terrifying end to Ms Portman's life. She was hog-tied, gagged and covered with a sheet, squeezed into the back of a car and driven from Papakura to Waikato, where she was killed.
