On July 23, the 36-year-old stabbed her in a frenzied attack, delivering a total of 55 stab wounds at a home in Parklands, Christchurch, the summary says.
“The victim’s children ran into the house as the defendant was stabbing their mother.”
McDonald’s injuries were significant and included multiple trauma wounds to the head and face, causing extensive damage.
Boulter entered a guilty plea to her murder on November 13.
Nathan Boulter appearing at the Auckland District Court in 2011. Photo / NZPA, David Rowland
Today, Justice Eaton remanded him for sentencing on February 17.
Boulter has a horrifying history of violence against women, including a high-profile kidnapping on Great Barrier Island in 2011.
In January that year, he subjected his ex-partner, Nortessa Montgomerie, then 21, to physical attacks and threats over 38 hours after he bashed her unconscious and dragged her from her father’s home on the island.
Montgomerie’s ordeal ended only when she managed to convince Boulter that she wanted to leave the island with him. Police said that, in doing so, she saved her life.
Boulter pleaded guilty to nine charges, including kidnapping and wounding with intent, and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently, he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.