On this date, 8 February 2010, Vanessa
Pickering was murdered in New Zealand by Malcolm George Chaston. Let us not
forget her and her family.
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Vanessa
Pickering
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20-year minimum for Vanessa
Pickering's killer
KEITH
LYNCH AND GILES BROWN
Last
updated 05:00 19/04/2011
One
of New Zealand's most dangerous criminals has been jailed indefinitely for the
brutal murder of a young mother.
In
the High Court in Rangiora yesterday, 41-year-old Malcolm George Chaston, a
criminal with a history of violence spanning two decades, received a 20-year
non-parole sentence for murdering Christchurch mother-of-one Vanessa Pickering,
27.
Justice
French also sentenced Chaston to preventive detention with a minimum nine-year
non-parole period on two unrelated charges of a sexual nature.
The
judge noted Chaston had 71 previous convictions, including violent assaults.
Pickering's
family yesterday brought her ashes, resting in a wooden box, to court.
A
balding, bearded Chaston was accompanied by three prison guards.
As
members of the Pickering family read their victim impact statements, he placed
his head between his knees and closed his eyes.
For
Pickering's mother, Rachel Kitson, it was too much.
While
reading her victim impact statement – the first of eight read to the court –
Kitson broke down in tears.
"You
have no idea how your `bad day' on February 8, 2010, has affected Vanessa's
family. Through your cold, calculating actions, our world has turned," she
told the court.
"You
meant nothing to Vanessa. Why, oh why, your prolonged premeditated attack?
"You
could have stopped after inflicting that first cut, but you chose not to.
"Vanessa
wasn't an animal, but you, Chaston, are. Her murder should never have
happened."
The
court also heard that Chaston had assaulted another woman on the same day,
before returning to his home and grabbing a 15-centimetre serrated-blade knife
he used to kill Pickering.
He
went to Pickering's home, and drove her to the Godley Head road, where he had
attacked the other woman earlier.
Chaston
stabbed Pickering in the face, neck, chest, abdomen and on both hands.
The
attack was so fierce, the knife handle broke.
Days
later, after being caught by police, Chaston brought them to Pickering's body.
He
told officers, "she's dead" and "I stabbed her in the eye 'cos
she was staring at me", a police summary said.Pickering's younger sister,
Loana Pickering, also read a victim impact statement, saying Chaston had
"torn my heart apart", before also breaking down.
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Rachel
Kitsen
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Tuesday 15 February 2011: The mother of slain Christchurch woman
Vanessa Pickering has called for a referendum on restoring the death penalty in
New Zealand.
Rachel
Kitsen told TV ONE's Close Up tonight she wanted the referendum to be included
in this year's election.
"Either yes or no. And when I say that I mean 'beyond
reasonable doubt',"
she said.
Speaking
to Close Up tonight from her Greymouth home, Kitsen said Chaston had cost New
Zealand thousands of dollars and asked "why the
hell are they still keeping him?"
She
said before her loss she had considered the use of the death penalty. Capital
punishment for murder was abolished in 1961.
Kitsen
said Chaston was "pure evil" and that knowing his past "really
churns my stomach".
"I
know that he was out to get someone and unfortunately it was Vanessa," she
said.
Chaston
has been remanded in custody until April 18 for sentencing with two medical
reports pending.
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