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A mass murderer who killed his three young sons during a rampage fuelled by a relationship breakdown has taken the New Zealand Parole Board to court, raising the possibility of bias after being denied release from prison 14 times.
Raymond Wahia Ratima, 55, was jailed for life in 1992 after being found guilty of killing seven people, including three of his own children, on a murderous rampage in Masterton.
Today, Ratima appeared via audio-video link in the High Court at Christchurch, seeking a review of the Parole Board’s decision to not grant him parole.
On June 25, 1992, Ratima killed his three sons Piripi, 7, Barney, 5, and Stacey, 2, in their grandparents’ Masterton home.
He also killed his brother-in-law Philip Ferguson Junior, 14, his heavily-pregnant sister-in-law Nicola Ferguson, 20, her partner Bevan Tepu, 21, and their son Stephen, 3.
Ratima then lay in wait for his wife and her parents to return home, seriously injuring his father-in-law. He was convicted of attempting to murder him.
Ratima was sentenced in 1993 to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 years after pleading guilty to seven counts of murder, attempted murder and killing an unborn child.
NZ Herald
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