Gordon Hieatt, 48, was today found guilty in the High Court in Auckland of murdering Nuttidar Vaikaew, 48, a sex worker originally from Thailand, by a jury after about six hours' deliberation.
Ms Vaikaew's body was found covered with flies and maggots by police on a bed on May 12 last year. Police believed she was murdered some time after April 16 last year.
Hieatt showed little emotion when the jury returned its verdict about 4.45pm.
Hieatt had been in an on-again, off-again relationship for about 2½ years with Ms Vaikaew, who came to New Zealand in 2001 from Thailand.
He admitted to the jury during the trial that he strangled Ms Vaikaew with a slipknot after they had an argument.
Hieatt, who was not happy at having to leave the house during the day so Ms Vaikaew could see her clients, said he got into a heated argument with her on April 17.
He said he "wanted her to shut up", and after she scratched his face when he put some masking tape over her mouth, he said he punched her several times.
Hieatt said he got a box of bondage gear from under the bed and tried to restrain her first with handcuffs and then a rope.
After she said "you want kill me'' for a second time, Hieatt said "all of a sudden I heard my voice saying `yes, I'm going to kill you''' and strangled her.
However, he denied under cross examination that he had wanted to kill her.
After she was dead he washed her body with a cloth, wiping blood from her mouth, nose and eyes, and cleaned a bowel movement, before he spent the night in bed with her body, he told the court. He strongly denied that he ever touched her in a sexual way.
He felt his only choices were to wait until police arrived or to kill himself and he spent most of the month after she died living with her body in the apartment, on his computer.
Crown prosecutors said Hieatt had intended to kill Ms Vaikaew.
Crown lawyer Rachael Reed said Hieatt had visited another sex worker in Wellington after Ms Vaikaew's death, and also spent time in the apartment.
He also maintained a relationship with another woman in Thailand during this period. He told her about the killing via an online messaging service, Ms Reed said.
Justice John Priestley yesterday ruled out Hieatt using provocation as a defence, which could have reduced his charge from murder to manslaughter.
Hieatt will be sentenced at the High Court in Auckland on February 25.
