Liam James Reid was on a court-imposed supervision sentence when he murdered deaf woman Emma Agnew and when he raped and attempted to murder a Dunedin student.
The Hamilton-born man had breached the supervision three times in less than four months.
He also had been found not guilty, in 2002, of raping and attempting to murder another woman.
Reid (36), who changed his name from Julian Heath Edgecombe, was sentenced in the Dunedin District Court on July 31, 2007 to community work and nine months' supervision for, among other charges, preparing to commit a crime.
He failed to appear in the Dunedin District Court on Tuesday, November 27, just three days after he raped and attempted to murder the Dunedin woman and 12 days after the murder of Emma Agnew.
A warrant for his arrest was issued on that day.
Corrections assistant general manager of community probation and psychological services Tracy Mellor said a special condition was imposed at sentencing in July 2007 that Reid was to attend counselling to the satisfaction of a probation officer.
He was given a written warning in September last year for breaching supervision and after further breaches, court action was taken against him in October and November - the same month he committed the crimes.
Reid was instructed to report to a probation officer every fortnight, she said.
There was little the department could do when people breached supervision, Mrs Mellor said.
Staff talked to the offender or tried to get a friend or other positive influence to change the person's actions.
But, as long as a person was turning up for appointments, there was no other restriction on their movements.
People under supervision were "in the community, freeto move around as they will", Mrs Mellor explained.
The service tried to identify whether the offender posed any escalating risk to the public.
"There is little we can do directly," she said.
Reid, born on July 21, 1972, had a troubled upbringing.
The Press in Christchurch reported he was adopted by his grandparents, Albert and Josephine Edgecombe, when he was aged 4 after his mother left him at a Salvation Army home and moved to Australia.
His mother's maiden name was Reid.
His father did not want anything to do with him.
Reid lived with his grandparents until he was 15, when he was asked to leave the home.
It is understood he lived in Australia for a time in the 1980s before returning to NZ, the newspaper said.
His grandfather told The Press in November last year that it was a "shock" to hear Reid had been charged.
He knew Reid had changed his name and heard he had "a couple of kids" in the South Island.
"I haven't seen that boy for about 15 or 16 years and I just can't believe it. I don't want to know any more about it," he said.
Reid changed his name between 2005 and 2007, after the Sensible Sentencing Trust listed him on its database of offenders, police said.
His name was removed from the list before the trial, a source from the trust said.
Reid has had numerous issues with the law.
In the High Court at Christchurch in 2002, under the name Edgecombe, he was found not guilty of eight allegations of sex crimes.
He had been arrested in November 2001 after a woman he knew complained to Christchurch police he had raped her.
The jury found him not guilty of abducting the woman for the purpose of sex, sexually violating her twice, two charges of attempting to murder her by strangling her, one of attempting to hang her and two of assaulting her, using a telephone cord as a weapon.
He was found guilty of fraudulently using the victim's bank card.
In November 2002, he admitted attacking two other prison inmates in a frenzied bashing with a broom handle.
He broke the broom handle over one man, who was struck repeatedly.
The second victim was bashed over the head when he tried to intervene.
He was acquitted in 2003 on a charge of assaulting another inmate with intent to injure - a charge that alleged he had thrown a mug of boiling water in the other man's face and then punched him 15 times.
Edgecombe also attacked a convicted paedophile in prison.
In 2000, while he was living at Port Chalmers, police found a loaded rifle with 22 rounds of ammunition in his kitchen.
Edgecombe was 27 at the time and a sickness beneficiary.
He told the judge he used the gun to shoot birds and other things at the back of his property.
" . . . I'm trying to stay out of trouble," he said at the time.
"I don't usually have it [the firearm] lying around. I'd just returned from using it".
In 2005, Reid, under the name of Edgecombe, sued the Attorney-general for $40,000 compensation for "hurt feelings".
He sought compensation from the Crown after a Paparua prison officer cuffed Reid around the head in April 2004.
Edgecombe had verbally abused prison guard Warren Aranga and threatened to kill another officer.
At the time, he was serving a 21-month sentence for assault and threatening to kill.
He had previous convictions for assault, possessing unlicensed firearms and threats to kill.
He was unsuccessful in his compensation bid.
Reid's last known address was in Milton.
In March this year, while in custody at Christchurch Men's Prison, Reid is understood to have attempted suicide by overdosing on prescription medicine.
