Face of the Day

For decades, Mark Middleton fought to keep the man who murdered his stepdaughter, Karla Cardno, behind bars. But two weeks before Paul Joseph Dally’s recent appearance before the Parole Board, where he was denied parole for a 19th time, Middleton died. [...]

Karla’s murder was something he never recovered from. [George Middleton, Mark’s older brother, says,] “Karla’s death had a deep effect on him. He never forgave Dally and he never forgot Karla. She was a lovely girl.” On May 26, 1989, Dally kidnapped 13-year-old Karla in Lower Hutt before raping and torturing her over 22 hours. [...]

[Lawyer Keith Jeffries says,] “[Mark] loved his kids and never got over losing Karla. Mark had a strong sense of justice.”

Jefferies first represented Middleton after he was charged with threatening to hunt down and crucify Dally. The charges followed comments Middleton made to journalists and police in August 1999, when Dally first became eligible for parole. “Mark threatened to hang Dally upside down and cut his balls off.

“He said, ‘If they let this guy out, I’ll kill him. I’ll nail him upside down to a tree, cut his balls off and shove them down his throat. I’ll sew his mouth shut and kill him over three days’.

“He was a robust guy. A few inmates offered to kill Dally for him, but Mark said, ‘No, I’ll do it myself’.” Middleton was furious that Dally had previously been released from prison after serving a nine-month sentence for attacking an elderly Auckland woman. [...]

In February 2001, Middleton was found guilty of threatening to kill. The verdict sparked nationwide outrage. Talkback radio lines ran hot, protesters gathered outside courthouses, and the Sensible Sentencing Trust emerged. The late Judge Michael Lance, KC, sentenced Middleton to nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after a psychiatrist diagnosed him with “chronic hypertrophic grief” – a form of prolonged grief disorder.

NZ Herald