Attribute to Superintendent John Price, Canterbury District Commander:

Paul Tainui (Wilson) has today pleaded guilty in the High Court in Christchurch to the rape of Nicole Tuxford on 7 April 2018.

Tainui has already pleaded guilty to the Nicole’s murder at a previous court appearance.

We again extend our sympathies to Nicole’s family, who are still coming to terms with their tragic loss.

This is a significant day for the family, who have endured a lengthy process while this matter was before the court.

Police have previously confirmed that on the night before Nicole’s death, Tainui was stopped by police at an alcohol checkpoint on Bealey Avenue in Christchurch and gave a positive reading.

He caught a taxi after he was processed and went directly to Nicole’s property.

He waited for her overnight before raping and killing her when she arrived home the next morning.

Police can also now confirm that while at the checkpoint, Tainui informed police about two knives in his vehicle.

These knives were secured in the vehicle’s boot and police retained the keys so he did not have access to them.

Tainui was on parole at the time of Nicole’s killing, however he was not in breach of his parole conditions when he was stopped.

These included two special conditions that he did not travel to the West Coast or have contact with his previous victim’s family.

The experienced staff involved were also satisfied with the explanation he gave for the knives, which was that he needed them for work. Tainui had not come to police attention as an offender during the several years he had been on parole.

We reiterate our previous comment that our staff did not and could not predict his intentions when he left the checkpoint that night.

His behaviour at the time gave no cause for concern, and there is no test which can predict human behaviour in these circumstances.

Nevertheless this is a tragedy which has had a deep impact on the officers involved.

Police are committed to working with our justice sector partners to identify any learnings which might arise from this tragedy.

There is no certainty however that anything could have made a difference to this tragic outcome given the specific circumstances involved that night.

Finally I would like to thank the investigation team who have worked tirelessly on what has been a distressing investigation. Their focus has been to establish the facts, and achieve justice for Nicole and her family.

Our thoughts remain with Nicole’s family, as well as the family of Tainui’s previous victim.

They suffered further tragedy following his actions in April last year.

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