A man who stabbed his girlfriend to death on her birthday at a public beach has been recalled to prison over fears his new relationship has “troubling parallels” to his last one.  

Tony Tiumalu was jailed in 2006 for the murder of his on-again, off-again girlfriend Susanna Brown whom he killed in a parked car at a popular Wellington beach in front of horrified onlookers.  

Brown had attempted to end their relationship and was arguing with Tiumalu who could not accept their relationship was over. He claims she bragged about sleeping with other men.  

The pair were sitting in a car at Titahi Bay beach when Tiumalu took a 14cm boning knife from the back seat of the car and stabbed Brown at least 20 times before kissing and embracing her limp body as police arrived.  

Witnesses heard “chilling, agonised screams” as the two to three-minute attack continued, but Tiumalu was not deterred by her cries for help or attempts by bystanders to prevent the killing.  

Justice Denis Clifford said that Brown’s last minutes would have been “horrific” and sentenced Tiumalu to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 14 years. 

Tiumalu became first became eligible for parole in 2019 but wasn’t released until 2021. 

On the outside, he formed a relationship with a woman and they had a child together but by the end of November 2023, his probation officer had serious concerns about his behaviour after receiving several anonymous tip-offs from family members. 

One relative raised concerns about his drinking and another reported an incident of domestic violence. However, when spoken to by police the alleged victim did not want to make a statement. 

His partner also told probation that she had found a knife in a place where Tiumalu had recently been. 

“Given that Mr Tiumalu is serving a life sentence for the murder of his ex-partner which occurred in the context of a heated argument where she was stabbed several times in anger, I am satisfied that Mr Tiumalu poses an undue risk to his current partner,” a January 2024 minute from the Parole Board reads. when making an interim decision to recall him to prison. 

The board had met two years earlier to discuss Tiumalu’s progress outside the wire and expressed concerns about the stresses of his new family situation. 

“No doubt Corrections will keep a very close eye on this relationship given Mr Tiumalu’s past,” their report from the time reads. 

However, in their decision to recall Tiumalu earlier this year, the board noted how much had changed for him since that progress hearing in 2022. 

He and his partner moved in together but that only lasted about eight months before the pair split up and arguments ensued over the care of their child. 

It was not until January 2024, shortly before the application for recall, that probation became aware of a serious breakdown in the relationship. 

“Concerns about possible escalation in risk for Mr Tiumalu and his partner were not disclosed to Probation by either of them, but by members of each of their families independently,” the board said in its ruling. 

Tiumalu denied that he had been drinking heavily over the 2023 Christmas period - as a tipoff to probation claimed - and has also denied any violence in the relationship. 

His partner wouldn’t cooperate with corrections but text messages between the pair were obtained and given to the board that show an allegation of assault by Tiumalu, that his partner was under significant stress, was concerned for her safety and was considering going to the police. 

Since then she has made an affidavit saying that the allegation of assault was not true and that she sent those messages because Tiumalu wanted to leave her and she couldn’t handle it. 

Tiumalu, through his counsel, claimed that he couldn’t handle his partner’s mood swings, that she was anxious and abusive and did not want to continue the relationship. 

Corrections submitted to the board that even if the allegations of violence were not true there was an undue risk to Tiumalu’s former partner in the deterioration of the relationship as well as Tiumalu’s dishonesty with his probation officer when it comes to reporting the true nature of his relationship. 

“…It is abundantly clear that the relationship between Mr Tiumalu and [withheld] is seriously deteriorating and conflictual,” the board said in its decision to recall Tiumalu. 

“There are some troubling parallels with the lead-up to the index offending which occurred at a time when one party believed the relationship to be at an end, but the other had not accepted that.” 

The board said it was concerning that Tiumalu had not told probation about his deteriorating relationship. 

“While we acknowledge the very positive progress that Mr Tiumalu has otherwise made on his parole, when it comes to a reassessment of his future risk, we cannot lose sight of the tragic circumstances and consequences of the crime for which he is subject to life parole conditions,” the board said. 

As the board put it bluntly in a progress report from April this year; “There were, on one view of the facts, similarities between the circumstances here and the circumstances that began and ultimately led to Mr Tiumalu killing his previous partner.” 

Tiumalu remains behind bars after being recalled there in February and the board found that he’d downplayed the events that led to him being imprisoned again. 

“The Board’s impression was that he rather reconstructed a number of the facts that the Parole Board found and downplayed the seriousness of the issues between himself and [his partner] and downplayed his lack of openness with his Probation Officer and others at the time.” 

It asked for a full psychological report to assess how the risk in his relationship and the care of his child could be managed. 

“We do that for the reasons that we have previously identified: that we think there are worrying aspects of the circumstances under which Mr Tiumalu acted toward his partner and some similarities to the circumstances under which Mr Tiumalu killed his partner,” the board said. 

“We see the situation with his partner, therefore, as a very dangerous situation that needs to be addressed in terms of his risk.” 

Tiumalu will appear before the board again in September. 

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022. 

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.