In the last 14 years, 65-year-old Matakaua "Karl" Ngaruaine Rouvi has spent only five months out of prison following the stabbing of his 21-year-old partner Moana Anahera Marie Aranui outside a Bay View Rd home in January 2009.
That stint came last year and ended abruptly when the Parole board heard of some "concerning episodes", which included late-night jaunts for supposed martial-arts training, and missed drug tests.
He appeared before the board last month and tried to persuade the panel he should be released again.
Parole was declined but the reasons remained unclear.
"Firstly, we note that [redacted] appeared to deteriorate while he was staying at the [redacted] ...," panel convener Neville Trendle said in a decision released to the Otago Daily Times.
"Mr Rouvi also appeared to us to be somewhat vulnerable to transition to a relatively unstructured release environment."
In January 2009, Rouvi had left his wife of many years to start a relationship with Ms Aranui but she discovered he was having an affair.
Drunk and angry, he took two boning knives from his car, chased the victim and stabbed her 21 times. She died in a carport 70m from the home.
Rouvi was paroled in May last year, primarily because he had suitable accommodation and a job waiting for him.
But within weeks he was not working, failed to produce a sample for an alcohol and drug test, then failed to turn up for similar tests in the subsequent months.
Rouvi twice breached his curfew and once left the address in the middle of the night claiming "he had to coach for martial arts training".
When he was confronted by Corrections staff, he became "very aggressive and angry".
By October he had been recalled to prison to continue serving his life sentence.
Rouvi, who is now at the Auckland South Corrections Facility, sought to be returned to the facility to which he had previously been paroled.
A representative said they would meet weekly with Rouvi and there would be a social worker on hand to assist him with other needs.
Mr Trendle said before he could be safely released, a multidisciplinary team meeting should be convened.
The names of the attendants were redacted.
Rouvi will appear before the Parole Board again in June.
