The man who raped and murdered Blessie Gotingco may be in prison for the rest of his life. Tony Douglas Robertson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum-non-parole period of 24 years for the murder and preventive detention for the rape.
In May, the 28-year-old was convicted by a jury in the High Court at Auckland of the crimes against the 56-year-old North Shore mother of three, only months after being released for similar offending.
The sentence of preventive detention is an open-ended jail term, which means the defendant can be imprisoned indefinitely or recalled at any time.
Justice Brewer today said he had not doubt Robertson would reoffend if released from prison.
"Your history makes it very plain you would be very likely to commit another qualifying offence no matter how long any finite sentence might be," he said.
Reports by mental health professionals highlighted Robertson's propensity for violence and lack of empathy for his victims, especially since he continued to deny the offending.
He "opportunistically uses manipulation and intimidation to have his needs met", one said.
In court today, Antonio Gotingco spoke of the "pain and torturous anguish" the killing of his wife had caused.
"We've been robbed of the very essence of our lives," he said.
The "unbelievably violent, cruel, depraved and vicious attack that ultimately ended her life" had similarly impacted Ms Gotingco's children.
"Whenever I close my eyes, I'm unable to think of anything else," her eldest son, John Gotingco, said. "My faith in the system has been irreparably broken."
On May 24 last year, Robertson - who spent today's sentencing with his head bowed, surrounded by security staff - hit Ms Gotingco while she was walking home down a Birkdale street.
Seeing her motionless body on the road, Robertson scooped her up, bundled her into the back of his BMW and took her to his nearby apartment just in time to make his curfew.
The court heard he was being monitored by the Department of Corrections via a GPS anklet at the time.
Once he was in the garage, beneath his home, the defendant sexually abused the injured woman before strangling her, stabbing her and slashing her throat.
Early the following morning, he wrapped Ms Gotingco's body in a bed sheet and took her to Eskdale cemetery down the road where he dumped her body in thick bush.
Despite Robertson's claims the initial collision on the street was an accident, Justice Brewer said his subsequent actions totally contradicted that.
Dark past
Robertson had name suppression throughout the trial and for some time afterwards, as he appealed against the court's decision to cease the order. However, last week the Supreme Court ended the string of appeals and the defendant's dark past was revealed.
In December 2005, Robertson kidnapped and molested a 5-year-old girl and attempted to abduct two other children in Tauranga. He served almost eight years in jail and was released in December 2013.
Justice Brewer said the case had strong similarities to his most recent offending.
Ms Gotingco's son John said he hoped her death was "not in vain" and that measures would be put in place to stop a similar incident.
Last week Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga announced an independent review would be carried out of the department's monitoring of Robertson following his release from prison.
- By Rob Kidd of the NZME News Service
