15 years jail for murder of gay man

MURRAY WILSON/Manawatu Standard

ANDRE GILLING: Pleaded not guilty to murdering Stanley Waipouri.

MURRAY WILSON/Manawatu Standard

ASHLEY ARNOPP: Pleaded guilty to murdering Stanley Waipouri.

STANLEY WAIPOURI: Brutally murdered.

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A 19-year-old was jailed today for life, with a minimum non-parole period of 15 years, for the slaying of a gay man.

Andre Gilling was found guilty by a jury in July of the December 2006 murder of Stanley Waipouri, 39, at a flat in Palmerston North.

It was the same sentence that was handed down last year to his co-accused Ashley Arnopp who admitted the charge.

In the High Court in Palmerston North today, Justice Terence Arnold said Mr Waipouri had been subjected to a "prolonged and savage beating" by the pair which showed a high level of brutality.

A well-known member of the gay community, Mr Waipouri was found dead, naked from the waist down, in his Palmerston North flat on December 22, 2006.

The jury at Gilling's trial was told Mr Waipouri died from head and neck injuries after being kicked, punched and stomped to death for over an hour.

The tip of his penis -- which was removed after his death -- and an earlobe were missing.

Despite an extensive search of the property, the missing body parts were never discovered.

Police arrived to find Gilling and Arnopp still in Mr Waipouri's blood-stained flat.

Arnopp had blood around his mouth and his saliva was found on Mr Waipouri's nipples. Gilling's saliva was also found on Mr Waipouri's stomach.

NZPA