A 71-year old man killed in a public toilet in central Hamilton early last month was a convicted paedophile. Jacques Donker was punched in the face and then hit on the head with a full bottle of whiskey as he lay on the ground.
Mr Donker was found inside a cubicle of the public toilet in London Street on 10 August.
Turei Kingi, 26, today pleaded guilty in the High Court in Hamilton to murdering Mr Donker.
Mr Donker was convicted in 2003 for indecently assaulting and having unlawful sexual connection with a 13-year old Hamilton boy.
He was jailed for four years and six months with a non-parole period of three years.
Mr Donker also had two prior convictions in 1991 for an indecent act on a boy and indecent assault.
The elderly man's body was found in the public toilet in August. Photo: Radio NZ / Andrew McRae
In a summary of facts read to court, Crown Prosecutor Ross Douch said Kingi often lived on the streets but in the three weeks before the killing he was living with his girlfriend's grandmother.
Kingi and Mr Donker were not known to each other. Mr Donker was of slight build; he was 176cm tall but weighed only 48kg.
On the evening of the attack, Kingi had been consuming alcohol, cannabis and synthetic cannabis.
He was with two female friends when he bought a bottle of whiskey at an alcohol store on Peachgrove Road, before returning to Victoria Street - the city's main road.
There, he walked around the central business district confronting and being aggressive with members of the public.
Mr Donker parked his car in London Street. Kingi saw him and told his friends that he was going to kill the man and rob him.
He went up to Mr Donker and asked him for food and money. The elderly man replied "no" and went to a nearby public toilet, which was lockable from the inside.
Kingi kicked against the door and when Mr Donker opened it, demanded his car keys.
When Mr Donker refused, Kingi punched him in the face and he fell to the ground. It was then that Kingi, using an overarm motion, swung a full bottle of whiskey, weighing 1.4kg, smashing it into the left side of Mr Donker's head.
He died of blunt force trauma.
Kingi grabbed his keys and took off in the car with his two female friends. One was dropped at her home and told her caregiver what had happened, and that person called the police.
Police located the car and followed it north towards Auckland. Near the Meremere dragway, a 30-second pursuit began. The car was spiked but Kingi managed to continue driving it for about five minutes before stopping and he was arrested.
Kingi's explanation to the police was that he felt Mr Donker had been disrespectful to him and that made him angry.
He said his intention was to steal the car and sell it for about $10,000.
Two other charges against Kingi of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and failing to stop when asked by police have been dropped.
An 18-year-old woman has been charged with being unlawfully in a vehicle and is due to reappear again in the Hamilton District Court on 5 October. She has interim name suppression.
Justice Brewer convicted Kingi, and he will be sentenced in the High Court in Hamilton on 23 November.
