Julie Elisabeth Morton, 61, appeared in front of the Parole Board for the first time yesterday and was declined release.
She was sentenced to three years two months’ imprisonment after admitting six charges of theft in a special relationship which represented hundreds of unlawful transactions over multiple years.
Morton had enduring power of attorney over her mother’s assets after she lost capacity to manage them in 2015.
Between January 5, 2015 and March 28, 2018 the defendant stole $965,310 of her mother’s money.
She used the money for jewellery, clothing, landscaping and spent $12,222 on Amazon purchases.
"She appears to enjoy manipulating, gaslighting and deceiving anyone including those closest to her and derives pleasure from this sort of criminal deceit," Mr Morton wrote.
"She is a narcissistic liar, manipulative, intelligent and can be convincing. She knows the difference between right and wrong but doesn’t care."
At the hearing, panel convener Judge Gus Andree Wiltens asked Morton why she took the money.
She said it felt like she was two different versions of herself: "one who was perfectly normal ... and the other who was on a path to self destruction," she said.
"I’m smart enough to know what I’m doing, and know that I’m going to be found out, and know that there’s going to be consequences, but I do it anyway."
She said when she offended this time — and when she stole $200,000 from her employer in the 1990s — she was going through difficult and emotional periods.
"I didn’t have any coping mechanisms other than to be destructive."
The board heard that while inside, Morton had done a rehabilitation programme, was working outside the wire and was approved to grocery shop for the prisoners.
Morton said she would try to prevent re-offending by talking about difficult emotions rather than "plastering over it" and would not allow herself to be in charge of other people’s money again.
She had been practising her new coping skills, she said, and gave an example about talking to her family regarding her distress about the media attending her hearing.
Morton had given power of attorney to her children so they could see her spending.
She said this would also prevent further offending as she previously got away with theft because "nobody was looking".
She was not afraid they would do to her what she did to her mother.
Morton described her offending as "ridiculous" and said the hardest part for her was the harm she had caused.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, Mr Morton said he thought the board made the right decision.
"If somebody got let out after a year of spending a million dollars ... from a vulnerable person, I think that would be pretty outrageous," he said.
His letter to the board said he did not think his sister’s attitude had changed since being inside.
"Julie did not admit any wrongdoing when I discovered the theft two years ago during the administration of my mother’s estate," he wrote.
"She appears to have more concern for the effect this crime has had on her children and herself, rather than me."
Mr Morton thought justice was best served by his sister serving her full sentence.
While Morton’s children contributed some money to help cover the stolen funds, she was not ordered to pay reparation.
The Parole Board will see Morton again in January and requested a psychological report to identify risks and ensure all required treatment was done.
