Murder victim Michelle Hoffman-Tamm A Rotorua lesbian has been jailed for a minimum of 17 years for the “ferocious” killing of her occasional lover after a night of drinking. Justice Patrick Keane told the High Court in Rotorua Gwenda Sloane, 44, subjected Michelle Hoffman-Tamm to a “sustained and unusually ferocious assault” and also mutilated her body in her Rotorua flat in November last year. He read the summary of facts, stating Sloane had become enraged after a night of drinking with the woman with whom she'd had an intermittent relationship, because she thought she had stolen from her and “lost it” as she hated being lied to. Justice Keane said Sloane stabbed Hoffman-Tamm with the larger of two knives seven times, then continued to stab and punch her, and even hit her with a kitchen drawer, after she had died. She then mutilated her, including cutting off her ears and placing one in her mouth, before gagging her and tying her hands behind her back. A distraught family member of Hoffman-Tamm’s had to leave court as the horrendous details were read out. The next morning Sloane called in sick to work, later telling police she had felt "overwhelmed", before finishing the beer they had been drinking and dragging Hoffman-Tamm's body outside. The Rotorua woman then wrapped the body of her lover and drove 120km away to Murupara, where she dumped it among household rubbish. When she got home she hired a carpet cleaner to tidy her floors, repainted areas of her house, threw out crucial items and parked the victim’s bike up in another suburb. Police twice asked her about involvement in Hoffman-Tamm’s disappearance but it wasn’t until she was confronted with a text message she sent the victim asking her to come over on the night she went missing that she admitted what had happened and led officers to the victim’s body. Before imposing his penalty, the judge acknowledged the “incalculable loss” to Hoffman-Tamm’s partner of 15 years and her family, including her two children and her two brothers, most of whom were in court today. He noted Sloane was still struggling to understand her drunken actions and had shown remorse, but said the killing and the extent of the mutilation warranted a sentencing starting point of 20 years. He gave her a three year discount for her early guilty plea. Throughout the sentencing Sloane sat with her grey polar fleece zipped up over her chin, and blinked with empty eyes with one hand to her cheek as her term behind bars was revealed. The prosecutor had earlier described Sloane's actions as callous and depraved during the killing and urged the judge to jail her for at least 17 years. “There is little if anything to mitigate the offendee,” he said. “This was a terrible crime and one which must be balanced with the full force of the law.” Sloane’s defence said her early guilty plea should be a significant mitigating factor, and said she had shown remorse. The excessive alcohol she had drunk was also raised, with her lawyer saying that when she was sober, Sloane was a hard-working and caring woman, and a “sound citizen”. Outside court Hoffman-Tamm’s daughter cried and shook as she attempted to steady herself with a cigarette to talk to the crowding media, saying 17 years in jail was not long enough to make up for the loss of her mother’s life.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 4th February 2013 - 3:54pm