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Offender Databases Kuka Tiai

Kuka Tiai

Alias

.

Offences

Stabbed a pensioner to death in Miramar, Wellington in February 1998

Victims

William Edward Arthur Fleet

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1967

Current Location

unknown

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to "life imprisonment" in May 1999
Eligible for parole February/March 2008

Background
From the Dominion 28/05/1999
A High Court jury in Wellington last night found Kuka Tiai guilty of the murder of Miramar pensioner William "Bill" Fleet. Justice Wild sentenced Tiai to life imprisonment. Thanking the jury for their efforts, the judge said that the element of provocation had not made the trial an easy one. The jury returned with its unanimous verdict at 8.35pm after retiring at 3.10pm. Tiai, 29, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Fleet, 65, on February 21 last year in an attack that left Mr Fleet with 25 stab wounds and the knife still embedded in his throat.

Mr Fleet's corpse was found two weeks later, after Tiai, who lived next door in a Miramar flatting complex, contacted police about a smell coming from his neighbour's flat.Before the jury retired, Justice Wild said that as Tiai had admitted culpable manslaughter it was up to the jury to determine whether he was guilty of murder or if he had been provoked by Mr Fleet into losing self-control and was therefore guilty of manslaughter. Crown prosecutor Ken Stone said the case was one of murder, nothing else.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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