Another violent thug has been removed from the streets today; the Herald reports:
Convicted killer Nikki Roper has today been sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of 14-and-a-half years, for murdering ex-girlfriend Alexsis Tovizi in a jealous, revenge-driven rage.
Today, her young son passed a message to Roper in the dock: "I feel really, really sad you killed my mummy.''
Roper killed 21-year-old mother-of-one Alexsis with a sleeper hold at her Christchurch flat in 2010 - just five days after being released from prison where he was serving a sentence for choking her.
As he left jail in 2010, the unemployed 24-year-old he told an inmate: "I'm going to kill the b****.''
Roper, who has 'Alexsis' tattooed under his left eye, had denied strangling the student social worker on the night of December 4, 2010 at her Stanmore Rd flat.
He claimed his on-again, off-again girlfriend died of natural causes related to binge drinking.
But after a seven-day trial, the jury took just four hours to convict him.
14-and-a-half years is a good start for Roper, who had already done time for trying to choke Ms Tovizi. But given what happened when the jury returned its verdict against Roper a few years ago, we hope that he spends a much longer time off the streets; read on:
When Alexsis' mother Cheryl Tovizi gasped "Thank God'' at the verdict, Roper shouted "F*** up b****'' and then leapt out of the dock and lunged at someone in the public gallery who'd given evidence against him.
He was pounced on by four court security staff and dragged into the cells.
When he was brought back into the room at the High Court in Christchurch, Roper turned to the gallery again and said: "Just remember what happens when you nark on the Mongrel Mob, eh.''
Today, his hands were restrained in the dock and was flanked by two prison officers as members of the Tovizi family read out emotionally-charged victim impact statements.
Cheryl, who had taken out a protection order against him but said they were often in touch, says her life is a "living nightmare'' after the horror of losing her caring daughter, who had a natural instinct to care for "waifs'' and people who had been bullied.
"She was a born rescuer,'' she said, and being highly motivated to help others was training as a social worker.
Since the murder, her life has been turned upside down. She now cares for her young grandson, a "precious, badly hurt little boy'' who was just three at the time of the murder, and had been inside the house when Roper murdered his mum.
When Roper cleaned out Alexsis' bank account after killing her, the boy, now aged 5 who cannot be named for legal reasons, was left "financially destitute'' with just 14 cents.
He is still suffering profoundly from the grief of losing his mother, Cheryl said. He is scared of sleeping, suffers nightmares and is undergoing counselling.
He has a night-time routine that involves him listening to a recording of his mother's voice which tells him she loves him.
She had to tell the boy that when his mum was buried "no, he couldn't go in the box with her''.
We have no sympathy whatsoever for predators such as Nikki Roper who prey on their victims. The fact that Roper, after killing Ms Tovizi went out and cleaned out her bank account leaving nothing for her son suggests that he is a person with no scruples whatsoever.
This case is tragic on so many levels. The die was cast for Alexsis Tovizi the moment that Roper entered her life. She had some respite while he was in prison for a serious assault on her, but she died within days of Roper's release from prison.
The Parole Board will not consider a release for Roper until at least the end of 2027. However the community would be a far safer place if he was never released from prison.
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