The tears meant nothing to the director of the Waiouru Army Museum or to the daughter of the country's greatest war hero, Charles Upham.
"This crime tore the heart out of every New Zealander apart from the criminals who committed it," museum director Colonel (retired) Ray Seymour said in an emotional address to Judge Graham Hubble in Auckland District Court.
He was reading a victim impact report shortly before Kapa was jailed for six years on one charge of burglary after he and Ronald van Wakeren broke into the museum at Waiouru in December, 2007, and stole 96 medals, including the Victoria Cross and bar won by Charles Upham, the only combat soldier in the world to have twice won the Commonwealth's highest bravery award.
Today's sentencing was cumulative on two previous sentences of three-and-a-half years and five-and-a-half years, also cumulative, for burglary, fraud and computer crimes and took Kapa's total prison term to 15 years. Of that Kapa would serve a minimum of six years and nine months before he was eligible for parole.
In court today, Col Seymour said "the nation was quite rightly so angry anyone could have had the audacity to commit such a heinous crime".
He said one family member of a VC winner told him the theft was distressing to his family and to all New Zealanders.
"I think the average New Zealander would feel gutted. I can't imagine the type of people who would do this. It is beyond my comprehension," Col Seymour read from the family member's letter.
He said another said it was sick to steal from a dead person.
Kapa pocketed a $100,000 reward for the return of the medals but Col Seymour said some of the stolen medals were won by men who died fighting for their country and Kapa should never benefit from the crime and the reward money should be paid back.
Amanda Upham said outside court the sentence was fair but she expected he would get longer than six years because he had not returned the reward money.
She said the theft of her father's medals was still very emotional but it was a great relief to return to the museum and see the medals back where they belonged.
She said Kapa's tears in dock today meant nothing.
She would accept an apology from him but had not been given one and did not expect one.
Col Seymour said outside court Kapa was a cool, calculated criminal.
"This crime was not committed on the spur of the moment. There is no doubt this criminal and his offsider had planned this for a long time."
He said a letter of apology from Kapa was illegible and he did not accept his tears in court today as genuine remorse.
"This was a crime against the nation. This was a bad, bad crime."
During the sentencing crown prosecutor Deb Bell said the medals had been valued at $5.5 million but the crown believed they were priceless and of immense significance to all New Zealanders.
Kapa's lawyer Jeremy Bioletti told the court he was unable to return the reward money.
"It is simply beyond his control."
Judge Hubble told Kapa the medals were New Zealand icons and the sentencing of Kapa would be a deterrent against people who "meddle with New Zealand icons".
Kapa had faced 179 criminal charges in his past and the theft from the museum was a carefully planned burglary.
He said there may be no prospect of the $100,000 reward money being repaid but it was "out there" and if Kapa ever came into possession of it, it should be repaid.
