default-output-block.skip-main
National | High Court

Serial rapist Malcolm Rewa jailed for life

Serial rapist Malcolm Rewa has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Susan Burdett, 27 years ago.

The 66-year-old was sentenced in he Auckland High Court this morning.

Rewa was found guilty last month after an unprecedented third trial.

In 1998, Rewa was tried twice for the murder of Burdett, but in both trials the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

After the second trial the Solicitor-General stated further prosecution of Rewa.

Add to...

to add this video to a playlist.

Teina Pora was jailed for 22 years after being convicted for Burdett's rape and murder.

In 1994, new DNA evidence linked the attack on Burdett to Rewa.  In 1998, Rewa was found guilty of her rape but in 2000, a retrial found Pora guilty again.

In March 2015, the Privy Council quashed Pora's convictions, and in 2016, the Crown paid out $3.5mil as compensation for his wrongful conviction, the largest ever payout by the Crown.

After Pora’s conviction for the murder of Burdett was quashed, the decision to stay the prosecution of Rewa was reviewed at the request of police and the third trial was allowed to go ahead.

Police say they hope today’s outcome will be able to give some form of closure to the family of Susan Burdett.

"We acknowledge and appreciate this has been a difficult time for her family and we also wish to once again thank all the witnesses who gave evidence in court.

"I also want to acknowledge again the Crown and Police investigative team for their hard work and dedication over the past two years on this case."

Police note Malcolm Rewa has lodged an appeal against his conviction.