Murderer 'destroyed our family'

BY JO MCKENZIE-MCLEAN

Dean Cameron "has destroyed my family", the mother of rape and murder victim Marie Davis says.

In the High Court in Christchurch yesterday, Justice Chisholm sentenced Cameron, 39, to preventive detention, with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years, for murdering the 15-year-old schoolgirl on April 6 last year. He also imposed a minimum 10-year preventive detention sentence for rape.

Marie's mother, Janet Davis, looked at Cameron while reading out her victim-impact statement, telling him he had destroyed her life when he murdered Marie and disposed of her body in the Waimakariri River.

"I cannot understand why it had to happen," she said. "It's just an utter waste of her life. I will always feel anger, hatred and bitterness towards Dean Cameron."

The 12 days Marie was missing was a "nightmare", and when her body was found Davis was in shock and denial.

"I could not believe my baby was gone. My life felt, and still does, empty without Marie."

After Marie's murder, she said, she could not stay at her house, where her daughter was murdered.

She had lost weight, smoked 30 cigarettes a day because of stress, lost confidence and could not face turning up to court during the trial, where her daughter's memory was "violated" and her character "torn to pieces".

"Dean Cameron has destroyed my family for no good reason. There are a lot of things I will never know about what happened to Marie, and I find that hard," she said.

Marie's sister, Amy, told Cameron in court that her sister's death was unjustified and cruel and that he had stolen her future.

"Marie had a right to grow up ... to start a family and be loved for a very long time. We will never get a chance to see her do any of those things," she said.

"I will never forgive you for the hurt and pain you caused my family. Just seeing him makes my skin crawl."

The judge said it was small wonder Marie's mother hated Cameron for murdering her "beautiful, intelligent, loving and caring" daughter.

"You robbed her of life; you robbed her of a future."

Cameron had displayed no remorse, which the judge "personally found quite despicable".

He said Cameron had a list of previous convictions, including dishonesty, violence and sexual violation, which was of relevance for sentencing.

"After a relationship between you and the mother of your two children ended, your former partner got a protection order in 2001," the judge said.

"It didn't take long before you breached that order. Indeed, there were seven breaches of the order over time.

"In 2002, you were found guilty of sexual violation and sentenced to four years imprisonment."

It was only nine months after Cameron was released from prison that he raped and murdered Marie, the judge said.

Cameron's former partner told The Press that she "felt sick" about what he had done.

"It's sad, because I always said he would do this. If it wasn't me it would be someone else. He deserves everything he gets, but I am not his judge God is," she said.

"I hope he owns up to it one day, but I don't think he ever will own up. He doesn't feel anything really. There is nothing there. There is no emotion. It's like his heart is hardened to everything."

The preventive detention sentence was a relief, she said.

"I don't want to sound selfish, but I feel safe, happy, confident again and not scared and relief that he's not going to be able to hurt anyone else."

During sentencing, the judge said Marie's murder had caused serious harm to the community, as well as Marie's family and friends. "For 12 days, this community and Marie's family and friends agonised over her unexplained disappearance and then, after her body was discovered, the community shared the family and friends' unbridled anger at the murder of this young victim," he said.

"It doesn't take me to say that offending of this type against a young victim strikes at the very heart of our community. It's every parent's worst nightmare."

Outside court, Janet Davis said that while the sentence was good, it did not bring Marie back.

Marie's sister, Amy Davis, said that with the sentence over, hopefully the family could move on.

- © Fairfax NZ News