{"id":87582,"date":"2025-10-19T05:15:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/87582\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T05:15:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:15:08","slug":"northland-woman-jailed-for-life-after-murdering-cousin-in-jealous-rage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/87582\/","title":{"rendered":"Northland woman jailed for life after murdering cousin in jealous rage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justice Andrew Becroft took the time to acknowledge the loss of life, saying Moke\u2019s death was a loss<\/a> for her family and the entire community.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaralee\u2019s daughter is outraged that you chose violence and, in a jealous rage, killed her mother, with that killing certain to reverberate throughout the generations,\u201d he told Tahau.<\/p>\n

The death was even more tragic for the family because Moke and Tahau were cousins<\/a>, and the killing tore the wh\u0101nau apart, he said.<\/p>\n

The incident also traumatised Bevan, not only from the violence she suffered but from witnessing Moke\u2019s death, Justice Becroft said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy words can\u2019t possibly explain the depth of the damage you have caused,\u201d he said to Tahau.<\/p>\n

\"KayteeKaytee Tahau was working as a cleaner at Houhora Heads Holiday Park when she murdered her cousin, who was visiting her. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you\u2019ve heard and read, and you must know \u2013 in that moment of alcohol-fuelled, jealous, angry rage \u2013 what you have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tahau sat in the dock still and emotionless during the sentencing.<\/p>\n

Precious mother, daughter, nan stolen from family<\/p>\n

Moke\u2019s daughter Billie Moke, in her victim impact statement read to the court, called Tahau a monster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m furious at you for killing my mum in a violent rage. You have stolen from us \u2013 taken away a mother, daughter, nan and left our family shattered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billie Moke said she wanted to speak not only on behalf of her brothers and children but also the generations to come, who would never get to know their nan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis loss has left a hole in our hearts that no one will ever fill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve watched my family suffer in ways that I never thought possible … I\u2019ve seen grown men reduced to tears because of this loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victim stabbed in abdomen and through her arm<\/p>\n

The court heard how in the days leading up to the incident, Tahau was violent towards Bevan, accusing her partner of \u201chaving a thing\u201d for Moke<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That afternoon, all three had some drinks and became intoxicated.<\/p>\n

Tahau became angry when she found out Bevan had gone to Moke\u2019s caravan for some drinks while Tahau was sleeping in her cabin.<\/p>\n

She began fighting with her cousin, including biting her in the chest and hitting her over the head with a mug.<\/p>\n

Tahau left the cabin and returned about 15 minutes later, asking for her keys and phone. Another fight broke out, and she hit Moke over the head with a mirror.<\/p>\n

Tahau then left the cabin, walking towards the caravan, which was about 70m away. Bevan followed and, when they argued, Tahau hit her over the head with the broken mirror.<\/p>\n

Tahau then went into the caravan and threw out her partner\u2019s belongings, ripping up photos of the pair of them.<\/p>\n

Moke came to console Bevan, and a physical fight again broke out between the two cousins, this time outside the caravan. Both women punched each other and pulled each other\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n

When the fighting stopped, Tahau went into the caravan and grabbed a 30cm kitchen knife, which she later described as a butcher\u2019s knife.<\/p>\n

She first approached Bevan, who ran away. When a scuffle again erupted between Tahau and Moke, Moke was stabbed once in the abdomen and once through her arm and into her chest.<\/p>\n

\"HouhoraHouhora Heads is an idyllic holiday spot at the top of the Far North. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

Emergency services were unable to resuscitate Moke, and she was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple stab wounds.<\/p>\n

On the day her jury trial was due to start<\/a>, Tahau admitted recklessly murdering Moke and assaulting Bevan with a weapon.<\/p>\n

Like living in \u2018Once Were Warriors\u2019<\/p>\n

Justice Becroft said there were four aggravating factors in the murder: the fact that a large butcher\u2019s knife was used, given its potential for serious injury; the fact Moke was stabbed twice; the premeditation in Tahau deliberately arming herself; and the extent of loss suffered by Moke\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

The assault against Bevan was aggravated by the fact that she had a protection order out against Tahau, and by a weapon being used on her head.<\/p>\n

Justice Becroft gave a discount for Tahau\u2019s guilty plea.<\/p>\n

He also gave a discount for Tahau\u2019s background, which she described as like being in the film Once Were Warriors: being exposed to violence and alcohol from a young age.<\/p>\n

Justice Becroft said a minimum non-parole period of 11 years was appropriate, but explained to Moke\u2019s family present in court that Tahau would only be released on agreement of the Parole Board and would be on life-long parole.<\/p>\n

He thanked the family for their respect while listening to the sentencing.<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Justice Andrew Becroft took the time to acknowledge the loss of life, saying Moke\u2019s death was a loss…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,66304,677,1558,58250,2082,66305,78,14641,66303,424,43768,15360,111,43,139,1067,69,29225,5161,1354],"class_list":["post-87582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-alcoholfuelled","tag-angry","tag-been","tag-cousin","tag-for","tag-imprisonment","tag-in","tag-jailed","tag-jealous","tag-life","tag-murdered","tag-murdering","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-rage","tag-sentenced","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}