A CCTV image police released during a 2019 manhunt for Murray Robertson. Photo / NZ Police
A CCTV image police released during a 2019 manhunt for Murray Robertson. Photo / NZ Police
A serial rapist who sparked a high-profile manhunt in 2019 after accusations he kidnapped and sexually abused a 17-year-old stranger has been sentenced to preventive detention.
The indeterminate sentence means that Murray Edward Thomas Robertson, 64, won't be released from custody unless the Parole Board is convinced the community wouldn't be at risk.
Robertson, who spent much of the hearing with his eyes closed and a crutch pressed against his temple as he slumped in his seat, moaned as Justice Ian Gault announced his decision.
"You described your hatred towards women," the judge noted of two psychological reports prepared for the sentencing hearing. "You've demonstrated no remorse for the harm your offending has caused."
Justice Gault also ordered a minimum period of imprisonment of five years.
Earlier in the hearing, Crown prosecutor Sarah Murphy described Robertson as having shown" a clear pattern of predatory behaviour" over the course of nearly 30 years.
"Mr Robertson identifies vulnerable women, he gets them into his car...and he forces them into sexual activity," she said.
He has "entrenched deviant sexual interests" that suggest he is likely to offend again, one of the psychologists noted.
But preventive detention wasn't necessary because of his age and health, defence lawyer Louise Freyer told the judge, arguing that if he doesn't die in prison he will be released a "much weakened, elderly person".
Murray Robertson speaks with lawyer Louise Freyer at Auckland District Court in February, after pleading guilty. Photo / Greg Bowker
Since his 2019 arrest, he has spent three weeks in hospital after heart failure. He also suffers type 2 diabetes and kidney disease and is likely to need dialysis at some point in the future.
Robertson pleaded guilty in February, on what was supposed to be the first day of his Auckland District Court trial, to four counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and one charge of indecent assault. Days earlier, DNA evidence had been processed - linking him to the offence.
The case was transferred to the High Court at Auckland for sentencing due to the Crown's bid for preventative detention.
According to court documents, Robertson approached his latest teen victim in the car park of a Mt Roskill New World supermarket in September 2019 as she was asking people for spare change. She was not allowed in the supermarket and he offered to buy food for her with her money.
But he emerged from the store without her food and told her to get in his car, according to a summary of facts provided to the court. She rebuffed his advances and a short time later left the vehicle but eventually got back in to demand her grocery money.
"She thought she heard the doors lock...She told him to stop," the summary of facts state. "Mr Robertson told her to calm down, that she was not going anywhere and that she would spend the day with him. [The teen] told him she did not want to do that, to stop the car, and that he could keep the money."
She panicked again as they drove past the grocery store and tried to make him stop driving, but he pushed her away, court documents state.
"He said, 'I've been watching you,' and, 'I know where you stay,'" documents state. "[The teen] was scared because he was stronger than her and she thought the doors were locked. She felt weak and anxious but thought if she listened to him she might be alright."
He then drove to a grass area on a cul-de-sac, where he sexually assaulted her over an hour-and-a-half until she managed to kick him in the chest and run away partially clothed. As her screams got the attention of nearby residents, Robertson sped off.
The incident was reported to police that evening, and over the following days police reviewed CCTV footage and appealed to the public for information. During the search for Robertson, Detective Inspector Scott Beard referred to him as "dangerous".
It was far from Robertson's first offence.
In 1981, he received a 10-month sentence for indecent assault and in 1983 he received a six-year sentence for the gang rape of another 17-year-old.
After arriving at a bus stop, the teen had refused his offer of a ride, but he then threw her backpack in his vehicle and told her she might as well come with him. The judge at the time of his sentencing on that charge identified him as the main perpetrator.
He was also accused of sexually assaulting a 45-year-old woman with chronic fatigue syndrome who was disoriented from a combination of alcohol and prescription drugs in 1995 and of targeting a 25-year-old hitchhiker in 2001. He served a 15-year sentence for rape, unlawful sexual connection and abduction as a result of those allegations.
He had been out of prison for about three years when the latest sexual assault occurred, prosecutors noted.
Robertson's latest victim didn't attend the sentencing on Thursday, but she submitted a letter to the court in which she described ongoing anxiety and mental health issues as a result of the incident. She has difficulty sleeping still, is afraid to leave the house, has trust issues and has realised she often spends too long scrubbing herself in the shower, she said.
She is relieved she didn't have to testify at trial, she stated, because she was terrified she would say the wrong thing, causing Robertson to be set free and find a new victim.
