Thai Sex Worker Murdered And Left To Rot In New Zealand Apartment

[freedom4life]

Is everyone upset because of the murder or because he let her body decompose? Strangulation is many times a crime of passion and if he was in a prior relationship with this woman (hooker or not) and emotionally unbalanced, he will most likely spend some time in a mental institution and be released back into society. I pity anyone who get close to him again.

In principle, I am against the death penalty for two reasons. First, prosecutors could give a rat's ass if you are guilty but can they make a case and sell it to a jury. If so, case closed and no looking for the real criminal. Second, it costs taxpayers more than ten million dollars for a death penalty case to make it through all the appeals and only a million or so to keep them locked up for the rest of their lives. If the person is sentenced to life without parole, they have to suffer at the hands of fellow inmates or be locked in solitary for their protection. Either way they get to suffer every day. If they die, no suffering.

Justice is not the goal of the Criminal Justice System, despite the name. The system is 'can my lawyer beat your lawyer' which is why the rich rarely face 'justice' and the poor and mentally challenged make up the bulk of the prison population. Are the rich more moral? Are the poor and mentally challenged more prone to criminal behavior? I suggest everyone withhold judgement until you know more facts and then, guaranteed, you will still not know the whole story. From the sound of the story, as written, this is one mentally defective human being. Hitler would have had him killed. What would you do to mentally defective humans prone to occasional violence? My answer - segregate them forever from the rest of us.

If they die no suffering eh? Guess you are an athiest. Some may see it as a means to give them a quick and speedy trial with the most awesome judge of them all

Actually, I Christian and I believe everyone should have a chance for Redemption of their immortal soul.

What you do in this life..you will answer to in the afterlife. You think because you kneel-down and pray to God and go to church, all is a clean slate? Before you move forward, will depend on what you did in this life.There is no favouritism played, your very being is stripped and revealed.It would be such a wonderous day when all relgions would finally just vanish...wake-up and smell the coffee..all religions are there to control and manipulate and have been for that very purpose.

Edited November 10, 2010 by freedom4life

[tropo]

You're right. Apologies and deleted.

Edited November 10, 2010 by tropo

[hayden5650]

Actually, I Christian and I believe everyone should have a chance for Redemption of their immortal soul.

Yeah, study up on what happened to Saul of Tarsus (Paul).

Saul of Tarsus, self acknowledged persecutor of Christians, was struck blind by Jehovah while he was on the road to Damascus; afterwards he was Redeemed and became Paul who spread the Gospel farther than anyone previously. If it were up to me, Saddam would not have been hanged. As long as someone is alive, there is a chance for them to rehabilitate themselves. Death, not so much chance. Please be specific.

Tropo, told you it wasn't me who said it.

Now let's be specific about you. You have an extra chromosome, don't you?

[tropo]

*deleted*

Edited November 10, 2010 by tropo

[housepainter]

Alledgedly he strangled her. Most likely with something immediately at hand. The point being it doesn't look pre-meditated.

That in itself may get him manslaughter, diminished responsibilty. If he had called the cops upon realising she was dead this would hardly get a column inch.

What has to be considered is his behaviour following the death. To live normally with a corpse is unusual. It is also shocking. Hence, his mental state will have to be assessed. It may be that he is 'normal' and will be sentenced for strangling the woman. Hardly a particularly shocking crime or unusual one.

Some of the posts on here are a tad wide of the mark in rationally sifting the facts.

Sad end for the woman and a sad beginning for the man.

[tropo]

Alledgedly he strangled her. Most likely with something immediately at hand. The point being it doesn't look pre-meditated.

That in itself may get him manslaughter, diminished responsibilty. If he had called the cops upon realising she was dead this would hardly get a column inch.

What has to be considered is his behaviour following the death. To live normally with a corpse is unusual. It is also shocking. Hence, his mental state will have to be assessed. It may be that he is 'normal' and will be sentenced for strangling the woman. Hardly a particularly shocking crime or unusual one.

Some of the posts on here are a tad wide of the mark in rationally sifting the facts.

Sad end for the woman and a sad beginning for the man.

A lot of you go on about his mental state, as though killing his girlfriend would be mentally sound, but hanging out with her corpse for 3 weeks is not sound.

There is no need to use anything at hand to kill a tiny Thai women. The death could have been quite accidental.

Let's assume he loved her very much. How mentally should would anyone be after killing someone they loved?

Here's some more food for thought. I related this story to my Filipino wife. When she heard about him staying with her rotting corpse for 3 weeks she immediately assumed he loved her and he felt very sorry for what he had done. There's a new angle from a non-Westerner.

(Filipinos routinely hang out with dead family member's bodies in the family home for 5 - 7 days and even longer on some occasions during the wake)

[Buchholz]

(Filipinos routinely hang out with dead family member's bodies in the family home for 5 - 7 days and even longer on some occasions during the wake)

That's true, but the hanging out is usually not done by the Filipino that murdered the deceased and it's also done after the deceased has been cleaned and embalmed.

[tropo]

(Filipinos routinely hang out with dead family member's bodies in the family home for 5 - 7 days and even longer on some occasions during the wake)

That's true, but the hanging out is usually not done by the Filipino that murdered the deceased and it's also done after the deceased has been cleaned and embalmed.

You're making the assumption that he murdered the deceased, just as many others on here do.

If a Filipino accidentally killed his spouse over an argument, unless he was in jail at the time, may very well hang out with her body.

[animatic]

(Filipinos routinely hang out with dead family member's bodies in the family home for 5 - 7 days and even longer on some occasions during the wake)

That's true, but the hanging out is usually not done by the Filipino that murdered the deceased and it's also done after the deceased has been cleaned and embalmed.

Yes exactly.

Certainly his mental state is in question.

It may have simply been a crime of passion of that instant,

but he was borderline before and his brain fell apart after he saw what he had done.

So the questions remain for the official professionals:

When and how has he mental state gone bad, and/or recovered, and has it not recovered.

Will it, or is he now just lost inside his head, and we are now irrelevant.

[Buchholz]

(Filipinos routinely hang out with dead family member's bodies in the family home for 5 - 7 days and even longer on some occasions during the wake)

That's true, but the hanging out is usually not done by the Filipino that murdered the deceased and it's also done after the deceased has been cleaned and embalmed.

You're making the assumption that he murdered the deceased, just as many others on here do.

If a Filipino accidentally killed his spouse over an argument, unless he was in jail at the time, may very well hang out with her body.

Statement duly amended:

That's true, but the hanging out is usually not done by the Filipino that self-admits to killing the deceased and is on trial for the murder of the deceased. It's also done after the deceased has been cleaned and embalmed and thus is not festering with maggots and stench.

[tropo]

Statement duly amended:

That's true, but the hanging out is usually not done by the Filipino that self-admits to killing the deceased and is on trial for the murder of the deceased. It's also done after the deceased has been cleaned and embalmed and thus is not festering with maggots and stench.

OK, the bodies are cleaned and embalmed, but in this case the killer would not have had the option of hanging out with a cleaned and embalmed corpse. Imagine he put the corpse in the boot of his car and took it down to a funeral parlour and asked them if they could clean and embalm it for him so he could hang out with it for a few weeks.

For all we know putting up with the conditions might have been self imposed punishment. He certainly wasn't hiding and most definitely expected to pay for his error. He easily could have skipped the country.

He knew exactly where he was heading (prison) and needed time.

The sceptical among you may consider another scenario. He was hanging out with a rotting corpse in order to come across as a crackpot to reduce his punishment.

There's so many possibilities. Perhaps he wanted the corpse to rot sufficiently so that the cause of death was no longer evident.

Edited November 11, 2010 by tropo

[kiwiinasia]

This is one of the most disgusting things I have ever heard of. This man is a criminal in the worst sense - death penalty as a minimum!!!

Whats the problem?

He murdered her and left her to rot.

What is a murderer supposed to do?

Does Miss Manners have a recommendation on this one too?

[Huey]

Sad and horrible act.

With all due respect too the dead, isn't 41 a touch late in the game to be travelling around tricking? You would think early 20's or something yeah?

Quite the contrary, in my experience. A prostitute in her early 20's wouldn't need to move overseas to make a good living, and could still easily go back upcountry to visit home whenever she wants. It seems like in all of the news stories I've read involving a Thai prostitute overseas, she is usually at least in her late 30's.

You are quite right most of the Thai prostitutes working overseas are older. Normally are ex bargirls who find it harder to turn a trick in places like Pattaya with all the teenage prostitutes. We raided an illegal brother in Melbourne a couple of years ago and found 5 Thai prostitutes working there. All were in thier late 30's early 40's (Yes and sex slaves who had thier passports held by the Middle Eastern pimps)

Have a mate also who married a 36 yr old bargirl from Pattaya and took her back to Melbourne (He was warned) Thought she had turned over a new leaf until he found out she was doing tricks behind his back in OZ. They worst he ever did was throw her out the door with what she was wearing. She came back via the courts and took 40% of everything he had (She had Aussie Citiz by then) Last I heard via the grapevine she is still doing tricks in Melbourne and is now about 43 yrs old.

Then there is the 47 and 49 yr old Thai prostitutes who were murdered in Darwin a few yrs back. They were thrown into a creek hoping thier bodies would be taken by crocs (Indoneasian pimps) Yes there is still a market overseas for older thai working women

Thats disgusting. And bizzare. I can only talk for a couple of cities in the US, where Korean Prostitutes are common. They are usually all within their twenties and quite nice looking. Not as cheap as I would guess some worn out pattaya bar girl would be, but you get your monies worth.

[Junglejingle]

Sick bastard....MHDSRIP!

[Karen64]

Yes he did kill her, yes is it wrong on so many levels - however he is mentally unstable (not that this is a justification) which may have led to the circumstances after the killing. It has taken over 12 months to bring this to trial - most of this time taken up by investigating and stabilising his mental state so that he is able to stand trial and be punished for the crime.

Related topic:

New Zealand Man Charged With Murdering Thai Prostitute

http://www.thaivisa....hai-prostitute/

[ryladie99]

For all the would be executioners New Zealand, like ALL civilized countries, does not have the death penalty.

I am not a bleeding heart but if forced to jump to conclusions I would think that this man needs serious psychiatric

treatment. Or at least some serious ENT work to restore his sense of smell!

After reading your comment you make me think about " all civilized countries " and in my opinion...death penalty does exit in the world because, it does give a Message to all criminals. Life is for life....then you and I will not have to witness as such headline..93% of male in jails while only 3% female are serving time. ( American statistic ) The man who is accusing of this crime will have to defense, I believe in Karma...and the truth will reveal. America still has a death penalty in several states, the government have to spend 3 million for a death roll but, only one million for a life without parole...take a pick...( money talks )

I am sorry for her loss and my heart and soul go to her families and friends.

Life is for life only in the U.S I think. Life in Australia is generally 20 yrs with the possiblity of parole after 12 yrs. I love the American punishments and wish a few were handed out in Australia. If this guy was facing trial in Australia I would say the maximum he would get was 5 yrs and parole in 2 yrs less time already served. If he is proven to have a psych problem which I think he does he will be lucky if he get 2 yrs. Maybe a community based order that he seek psych assessments every month for the next 12 months if the courts are really hard on him.

This is recently news in California...it will have the fifth death penalty to review. A couple day ago the case in Connecticut has been ruled out. Here is the detail in brief...this man and his young friend went to commit a late night home invasion. In the morning they forced the wife going to the bank and withdrawn the cash. The mother thought she gave big amount of money and her misery was over In return the Robbers raped 17 years oldest daughter and the 47 year old mother and let alone the eleven year old after beaten and tied up the father in the basement. Before these gangs left the house they killed the 3 females and set a house on fire. The father survived and was able to help the polices captured the Robbers...this case was number ninth of death penalty the State of Connecticut at the same time the State of Texas sent the wrong man to execute according to Yahoo news.

Thank you for giving your feedback about Australia...I share your interest and pain over the unfair practice of laws and punishment against women in our society.

[Buchholz]

Yes he did kill her, yes is it wrong on so many levels - however he is mentally unstable (not that this is a justification) which may have led to the circumstances after the killing. It has taken over 12 months to bring this to trial - most of this time taken up by investigating and stabilising his mental state so that he is able to stand trial and be punished for the crime.

Related topic:

New Zealand Man Charged With Murdering Thai Prostitute

http://www.thaivisa....hai-prostitute/

Whether or not he is mentally unstable for the crime for which he was charged will be determined by the court and that hasn't occurred yet.

Do you have references that his trial has been delayed to "stabilize his mental state" over the past year?

OR was it delayed for other reasons, eg. investigations, court date backlogs, etc.

I ask this because according to the other original thread above, from over a year ago:

Crown prosecutor Rachael Reed opposed continued interim name suppression, saying Mr Hieatt was no longer under close observation and there were no concerns about his mental health.

- Radio New Zealand / 2009-08-03

Edited November 12, 2010 by Buchholz

[Buchholz]

Accused killer won the Lotto

A computer programmer who won first division Lotto is on trial for the murder of his Thai prostitute girlfriend. Police allege Gordon Hieatt, 49, murdered Nuttidar Vaikaew, 48, then kept her body in a bed in the lounge of their Auckland flat for three and a half weeks. During his trial at the High Court at Auckland it emerged this week that Hieatt had won $750,000 on the Lotto in the 1990s but a series of failed investments left him bankrupt. By last year he was living with Vaikaew in a Western Springs flat.

Hieatt's stepsister, Michele Cavanagh, told the court of conversations with her brother since his arrest in which he described his volatile relationship with his girlfriend. Their fights would often end with Vaikaew, who had loose teeth due to gum disease and was worried about her deteriorating looks, begging him to kill her, Cavanagh told the court. On April 16 the pair argued and Hieatt put his hand over her mouth to quieten her but in doing so pushed her teeth in and made them wonky, Cavanagh said. "She was saying, 'Kill me, kill me', and he said, 'No, no' then something snapped and he said 'yes'," she told the court.

Cavanagh said Hieatt's account was that he went and got a rope and strangled her.

Cavanagh said Hieatt made a note in his electronic diary recording the event, then took Vaikaew's body to the bathroom. The lawyer asked if he told her he cleaned her body. "Did he tell you he got into bed with her, wrapped his arms around her?" Cavanagh said Hieatt had told her he "loved her too much". "He couldn't live with her and he couldn't live without her," she said. The Crown says Hieatt continued life as normal over the following three and a half weeks, including going to family gatherings, making trips to Wellington, visiting prostitutes and chatting online to another girlfriend in Thailand.

Her body was discovered after the landlord investigated and called police because of the smell. Vaikaew's body was on a bed in the lounge with a fan set up over it. The corpse was heavily decomposed and was holding an ace of hearts playing card.

Continues:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4343297/Accused-killer-won-the-Lotto

Stuff.co.nz - November 14, 2010

[scania]

RIP

[suranya63]

RIP

Edited November 14, 2010 by suranya63

[Buchholz]

Murder accused admitted killing girlfriend: Witness

A man accused of murdering his Thai sex worker girlfriend admitted the killing to another woman he had been seeing in Thailand, a jury heard today. Gordon Hieatt, 47, a self employed computer programmer, has pleaded not guilty in the High Court at Auckland to murdering of Nuttidar Vaikaew, 48, a Thai sex worker. The court today heard from Pranom Khotngao, who was flown from Thailand to give evidence at his trial. She told the court she met Hieatt on an online dating website and he visited her three times in Thailand. She said that he spoke to her via online messaging service MSN when he was back in Auckland and told her he had killed Vaikaew after they had a big fight.

She said the message said: "She made me crazy. I think she wanted to die and made me do it." Khotngao said she was worried Hieatt would kill himself so she tried to calm him down but he said "she's dead, nobody can fix that". "I don't think I'll be able to see you again, I should have stayed with you, I'm sorry," he told her.

Continues:

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/murder-accused-admitted-killing-girlfriend-witness-3896994?ref=rss

NZPA - November 15, 2010

[Buchholz]

Murder Accused Says Nothing More Than "I Killed Her"

Auckland - Gordon Hieatt refused to answer questions about his girlfriend's death during his police interview, shown to a High Court jury today, other than to mutter "I killed her" under his breath. Hieatt, 47, stared blankly at the table in front of him for much of the interview with Detective Daniel Egen -- shown at his murder trial in Auckland today -- his silence only broken by his occasional mumbled monosyllabic answers to the police questions. After about 30 minutes he broke down in tears and said "I killed her" but told the detective he had nothing more to say than that. The remaining half an hour of the two hour interview will be shown tomorrow.

Upon his arrest, Hieatt told Mr Egen he had choked his girlfriend Nuttidar Vaikaew, 48, a Thai sex worker, to death on April 17 last year. Her badly decomposed body was found nearly a month later in a bed in her Auckland apartment. Hieatt lived in the apartment during this time.

The court also heard evidence today from Pranom Khotngao, who was flown from Thailand to give evidence at the trial. The Crown is expected to finish calling evidence tomorrow and Hieatt himself will take the stand.

Continues:

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/murder-accused-says-nothing-more-quoti-killed-herquot/5/71967

NZPA - November 15, 2010

[Buchholz]

Necrophilia questions anger murder accused

Questions about necrophilia were the only thing that could get a rise out of a man accused of killing his girlfriend and keeping her body in a bed for three weeks. A police interview with Gordon Hieatt, 49, was played to the High Court at Auckland today where Hieatt is on trial for the murder of his Thai girlfriend Nuttidar Vaikaew. Hieatt sat silent for long periods, crying intermittently and giving near-imperceptible nods as he was questioned.

After about half an hour of not giving answers the police interviewer asked questions about what he had done to Vaikaew after her death. "Did you touch her in a sexual way? Is that why she's in the bed? The connotation is you've had some sort of relationship with her after her death? I don't want to put you wrong..."

"Well shut the f... up then!'' Hieatt said, erupting into life for the first time. He later indicated he had not touched her sexually after her death.

In two rare responses earlier he was asked what his plan was - just wait until he was discovered? "Something like that," he said. "When did you know Nuttidar was dead?" "That was sometime after I killed her I think," he said.

Continues:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4349641/Necrophilia-questions-anger-accused

stuff.co.nz - November 16, 2010

[Buchholz]

Man who lived with decomposing body 'just snapped'

A man accused of murdering his girlfriend, who lived with her decomposing body for almost a month, was provoked by her to the point where "he just snapped", his lawyer argues. Gordon Hieatt, 48, a self-employed computer programmer from Auckland, has pleaded not guilty in the High Court at Auckland to murdering his girlfriend Nuttidar Vaikaew, 48, a Thai sex worker. His lawyer, Peter Kaye, said Ms Vaikaew had "developed a very harsh way of talking" and they started having increasingly heated arguments.

On the night of the killing, April 17 2009, the two got into a "fighting match" about rent money and she began shouting and abusing him. Hieatt got some masking tape and placed it over her mouth but she ripped this off and a struggle ensued. "The noise continued, the abuse continued, he couldn't shut her up."

He got a small rope from under the bed and began strangling her, "powerless to stop himself", Mr Kaye said. "Something just snapped, it was like he was a spectator watching a movie. In what seemed like moments of time she was dead." He straightened up her body, cleaned her, laid her on the bed and spent the night with her.

The provocation defence was abolished by the Government last year but could be available to Hieatt because the alleged offence took place before the law change. It can reduce a conviction of murder to one of manslaughter.

Continues:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4350942/Murder-accused-just-snapped

stuff.co.nz - November 16, 2010

[whybother]

Necrophilia questions anger murder accused

Questions about necrophilia were the only thing that could get a rise out of a man accused of killing his girlfriend and keeping her body in a bed for three weeks.

<snip>

Maybe they could have picked a better word to use than "rise".

[tropo]

Necrophilia questions anger murder accused

Questions about necrophilia were the only thing that could get a rise out of a man accused of killing his girlfriend and keeping her body in a bed for three weeks.

<snip>

Maybe they could have picked a better word to use than "rise".

It didn't strike me as being out of place in the context. You may have what some people call a one-track mind.

[Buchholz]

NZ man shared bed with dead girlfriend

After killing his Thai sex-worker girlfriend, a New Zealand man slept next to her body, a court has heard. Giving evidence at his trial in the High Court at Auckland for murder, Gordon Hieatt, 48, said he strangled Nuttidar Vaikaew, also 48, with a slipknot after they had an argument in April last year. After she was dead, Hieatt washed her with a cloth before spending the night in bed with her body, the court was told on Wednesday. He denied touching her in a sexual way.

Hieatt spent most of the next month living with her rotting corpse in a curtained off corner of the lounge room of his North Island apartment, reading jokes to cheer himself up, Crown prosecutor Rachel Reed told the court earlier this month. Ms Vaikaew's landlord contacted police because he noticed a foul smell emanating from the apartment when he stopped by to collect overdue rent. When police went to investigate in May they found an electric fan pointed at the corpse to try to minimise the stench.

Ms Reed said Hieatt's computer records showed he engaged in online chats with a sex worker in Thailand while in the apartment. He also took four brief trips to Wellington, where he visited a prostitute. Prosecutor David Johnstone said Hieatt made a conscious decision to kill Ms Vaikaew after he punched her and became worried she would contact the police.

Continues:

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/nz-man-shared-bed-with-dead-girlfriend-20101118-17y6o.html

AAP - November 18, 2010

[stickman]

From today's New Zealand Herald, the guy has been found guilty of murdering her:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10688709

[Buchholz]

Lotto winner guilty of partner's murder

A man who once cashed in a winning Lotto ticket has been convicted of murdering his Thai prostitute girlfriend. Gordon Hieatt, now 48, won $750,000 in the 1990s. Yesterday he was found guilty in the High Court at Auckland of murdering Nuttidar Vaikaew, 48, last year. In the years since his big win, Hieatt blew his winnings on a series of failed investments, leaving him bankrupt and sharing a flat with Ms Vaikaew in Auckland's CBD fringe. Over the years he had enjoyed the company of prostitutes, mainly Thais, in parlours in Auckland and in Thailand – becoming fluent in Thai. At the time of his Lotto win he was going out with a Thai woman. They fell out over who bought the ticket and he ended up splitting his winnings 50-50.

By 2009 he was working as a computer programmer and living with Ms Vaikaew in a flat in Western Springs, but had another Thai girlfriend to whom he chatted on the internet. On April 17, 2009, Hieatt and Ms Vaikaew had a violent argument over rent money, and over her entertaining clients at home while he was at work during the day. The court was told Hieatt put his hand over her mouth then grabbed a rope the couple had previously used for sexual bondage, and strangled his girlfriend. He then lived with her body in the lounge for nearly a month. In that month, Hieatt took trips to Wellington, used prostitutes, and spoke on the internet to his other girlfriend in Thailand. "I was thinking my life was over and I wanted to get the last bit of enjoyment out of it," he told the court on Wednesday.

The jury deliberated for about six hours. Hieatt was remanded in custody until sentencing in February.

Continues:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4366713/Lotto-winner-guilty-of-partners-murder

stuff.co.nz - November 20, 2010

[whybother]

Isn't it good how western news follows up on stories. Another thing the Thai media could learn.