A seemingly obsessed stalker who shot his love rival in the head has not sought release from prison despite his eligibility and accepts he needs one-on-one psychological treatment.

An “important focus” of Krishan Ranui Dick-Karetai’s treatment would be the reported obsession he had with his love interest, Missy Parata.

Dick-Karetai was jailed in June 2022 for six years and 11 months after he admitted trying to murder Parata’s partner, Hemi Tahuri.

He recently appeared before the Parole Board for the first time.

The board found that, until treatment was completed and he had a strong release plan, Dick-Karetai remained an undue risk and parole was declined.

The 26-year-old told the board he was not seeking to be paroled at this stage anyway.

“Mr Dick-Karetai has accepted that he needs to undertake the individual psychological treatment which has been recommended by the psychologist,” the board’s decision stated.

Offenders do not apply for parole; they become eligible to be seen by the board and a hearing is scheduled according to their eligibility date.

Dick-Karetai’s imprisonment followed a year-long campaign of stalking and harassing Parata that culminated in his shooting of Tahuri, leaving him with a 1 per cent chance of survival.

According to the High Court’s sentencing notes, Dick-Karetai struck up a relationship with Parata, from Dunedin, in 2020.

When she chose to resume her relationship with Tahuri, her high school sweetheart, she tried to end contact with Dick-Karetai.

Dick-Karetai would not accept this. He threatened to self-harm or kill himself if she cut ties with him and, if she did not respond to his text messages promptly, or show her location on social media apps, he inundated her with messages or calls.

Police were called to four family harm episodes relating to his unwillingness to accept the relationship was over.

Krishan Dick-Karetai obsessively pursued Missy Parata despite her relationship with Hemi Tahuri. Photo / Gregor Richardson

He was trespassed from Parata’s property after the first incident and went on to breach the order twice.

Then, on October 15, 2021, Dick-Karetai sent Parata 35 abusive messages and phoned her 33 times.

He demanded to see her location through social media before calling her a further five times and sending a message that said she was a liar and was probably with Tahuri.

She sent one message in response: “I don’t want you and I don’t want you to ever try and message or call me. You need to leave me alone.”

However, he phoned her a further 30 times and sent eight more messages.

He then drove to Tahuri’s home and tooted his car horn in an attempt to get Parata to come out.

He phoned her another eight times while on the property and Tahuri, who was outside on his ride-on lawnmower, went to speak to him.

In the meantime, Parata called police to report what was happening and was advised to lock the door. Tahuri, who was by then inside, did just that.

But Dick-Karetai grabbed a loaded .22 calibre rifle from his car and shot Tahuri in the forehead through the glass front door.

While Tahuri narrowly avoided death, his injuries were significant and life-long.

Doctors said Hemi Tahuri, pictured with Missy Parata, had a 1 per cent chance of survival.

He spoke to the Parole Board before the February hearing, held at the Otago Corrections Facility, and detailed the effect the shooting had had on his and his family’s lives.

The family opposed Dick-Karetai’s release, stating he did not deserve to leave jail early. They believed he had already been afforded “a big discount” at sentencing, and they did not want him to be released anywhere in the Canterbury or Otago regions.

According to the board’s decision, Dick-Karetai was interested in reintegration activities, such as release to work, in addition to psychological treatment.

“One of the issues that Mr Dick-Karetai will need to work through with his treating psychologist is why this offending happened,” the decision stated.

“Mr Dick-Karetai said he believed that he was in a relationship with the victim, notwithstanding the number of text messages and his continuing to contact her despite being trespassed.”

The decision said Tahuri and his family believed Dick-Karetai was “obsessed” with Parata and that Dick-Karetai had written a letter disclosing that Tahuri had not been his “target”.

“Mr Dick-Karetai denied sending that. It may be that it was sent by someone else purporting to be him. Nevertheless, the question of whether there was (as seems on the surface) an obsession is a matter that will be an important focus of the treatment work,” the board said.

“We agree that this is going to take some time.”

Dick-Karetai is due to be called before the board again in August 2025, giving him time to work on a release plan and for an updated psychological report to be prepared if his treatment is completed.

“Given the significant injuries which are ongoing and the lead-up to this offending, Mr Dick-Karetai would be wise to be starting to consider a release away from Otago as well as from Canterbury, notwithstanding his own connections to that region.”

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff where she covered crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.