‘High degree of brutality, cruelty’: Supreme Court rejects killer Ernest Smith’s appeal

A murderer who plotted a “carefully planned murder” and brutally stabbed his ex-partner to death while she slept missed the opportunity to take the case to the Supreme Court.

Ernest Smith was sentenced to life in prison in 2013, without the possibility of being released for 17 years, for killing Amanda Taufale at her home in Tawa in 2012.

At Smith’s sentencing, Judge Ronald Young said it was a “carefully planned murder” by Smith, who waited for hours on the roof of Taufale and attacked her while she slept in her bed.

During a violent fight, Smith stabbed and cut the woman, who was the mother of his 9-month-old baby, and left her bled to death.

He then tried to make it appear that an intruder had opened a vacant room to commit the crime.

Taufale’s teenage son woke up to find his mother’s body the next morning.

More than half a decade after his incarceration, Smith made an offer to appeal to the Supreme Court.

In a decision published Wednesday, the country’s highest court said it would not consider his case.

The court noted that Smith’s crime involved “calculated planning, the fact that the crime had involved illegal entry into the deceased’s home, the high degree of brutality, cruelty and callousness involved in the murder, and the vulnerability of the deceased.” .

The murderer

Smith’s plan was undone when he realized that he had lost his car keys and stole Taufale’s car to return to Karori, where he lived.

He also left behind a hood that he wore during the attack, Judge Young said in 2013.

Taufale’s uncle, Ralph Jorgensen, read a statement on behalf of the family when Smith was jailed.

“What happened to Mandy was absolutely shocking to the family and something none of us expected to happen.

“With regard to Ernest Smith, the family is relieved that he finally pleaded guilty, and while the family cannot forget what happened, today’s sentencing means that they can now put this dark period behind them and put their lives back together. “.

The ordeal had been “heartbreaking,” he said.

The two children were being supported by the family. “The family is very supportive of the children and always will be.”

Taufale’s family thought the length of the sentence was appropriate, Jorgensen said.

Judge Young said the attack was planned to match Taufale’s vulnerability while he was sleeping.

“This was a merciless murder.”

Crown prosecutor Grant Burston said it was a “particularly brutal and callous murder.”

Taufale had a bachelor of applied science in psychology and had worked with disabled men and women, disadvantaged youth, and victims of domestic violence.

She had volunteered at the Women’s Refuge, and in the two years before her death she had accepted a job in Industrial Research, where she worked as a scientific support coordinator.