This story by RNZ Reporter Tim Brown discusses graphic details of violence.
Convicted murderer Clayton Weatherston has told the Parole Board that his mutilation of Sophie Elliott was “just an F-U to everything about her”.
The 50-year-old has been declined parole and will remain behind bars until at least November 2027.
Weatherston was an academic at Otago University who lectured in economics and had been in a relationship with the honours student.
Elliott, 22, had left Weatherston and was packing up her life to move to Wellington to take up a job at Treasury on 9 January 2008, Weatherston’s 32nd birthday.
Weatherston arrived at her family home in the Dunedin suburb of Ravensbourne armed with a knife.
He stabbed her to death so viciously the knife broke and used a pair of scissors in his frenzied attack.
Weatherston inflicted 216 stab or cutting wounds as well as seven blunt force injuries and disfigured her body.
On Friday morning he appeared before the Parole Board for the first time after serving an 18-year non-parole period of imprisonment.
His lawyer told the panel Weatherston was not seeking parole and understood more time would have to pass before he was eligible.
Panel members asked Weatherston if he had reflected on his offending and had any explanation for his attack on Elliott and his actions after she was dead.
He told the board the attack was “incredibly misguided” and he was ashamed and remorseful.
“My offending was about alleviating frustration,” Weatherston said.
“It was about alleviating my distress. A lot of the things going on in my life were projected on to her, anything I don’t like about her, anything I don’t like about myself.
“It was a visceral, brutal way of wiping out someone you have perceived as hurting you in the worst way possible. It was just an F-U to everything about her and about that I am ashamed and ashamed I would channel that towards another person.”
Sophie Elliot was 22 when she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend Clayton Weatherston in Dunedin on 9 January 2008. Photo: Supplied
At trial Weatherston tried to blame the attack on Elliott, claiming the partial defence of provocation.
Her death shocked New Zealand and Weatherston’s antics at trial further outraged the nation, leading to the partial defence of provocation being abolished by statute.
“I feel shifting the blame, shifting the focus of behaviour away from me was completely wrong,” Weatherston told the Parole Board.
“I certainly regret the nature of that court process. I think the focus should be on my behaviour and I really regret that, the way things played out at that time.”
Panel member Alan Hackney asked Weatherston if he had any flashbacks or nightmares about his crime.
“Yes, all of those things,” Weatherston said, impassively.
“There are certain triggers in everyday life, mentions of certain words, comments from other people. Looking back it’s just extreme regret for the tragedy of the whole situation.”
Upon reflection, Weatherston claimed his offending caused him a “high degree of anxiety and stress and shame”.
Hackney remarked that Weatherston “described that incredibly calmly” considering the distress he described to the board.
“I don’t feel calm and in fact I feel extremely emotional,” Weatherston said.
“It’s not something that’s easy to deal with. Some days I get very emotional about it and some days I say ‘you just have to accept what has happened and move forward’.
“Sitting here today and as I present to you, I’m trying to maintain myself in this environment,” Weatherston said, lifting his glasses and wiping an eye.
During his trial, the court heard Weatherston had kicked another former girlfriend and made her nose bleed.
He was asked about the conflicting accounts he had given of that assault and his responsibility for it.
He told the Parole Board he maintained he was “jumping over” the woman and it was an “accidental act that I immediately apologised for”.
The board heard Weatherston had not been involved in any misconduct during his time in prison.
He had not undertaken any rehabilitation and there was some way to go before that could happen.
Weatherston had read for more than 1000 hours and had familiarised himself with methods of psychology.
The board heard he remained at high-risk of reoffending against intimate partners.
Weatherston said he believed he had some element of neurodivergence and “some degree of personality traits”.
When it was pointed out that clinicians had assessed him as suffering from a severe personality disorder he responded, “I don’t subscribe to the high degree of narcissistic personality disorder opined”.
A support person told the panel that he had seen “a lot of change, growth and development” in Weatherston during his 18 years behind bars.
Weatherston’s lawyer Roger Eagles said his client “does feel remorse and shame for his actions” and “understands the huge distress caused for the victim’s family and friends”.
He said it was possible Weatherston would make “rapid progress” when he undertook rehabilitation because he was “undoubtedly a gifted man intellectually”.
Weatherston told the board he was a different man from the “hard-charging, younger version of me”.
“I want to verbalise my remorse and action it. I take it incredibly seriously,” he said.
Gil Elliot, Sophie Elliot’s father, had sought a postponement order to prevent Weatherston appearing before the Parole Board again for several years, although it was not imposed. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Elliott’s father Gil remained sceptical about Weatherston’s remorse.
“I’m not sure whether that would be genuine or not,” he told RNZ following the board’s decision.
“Narcissists’ mental state doesn’t change because it can’t change. They are wired that particular way.
“His mental state when he went in should not be or won’t be any different then to his mental state now 18 years later.”
Gil thanked Victim Support and the Parole Board for their support and manner, which put him and his support people at ease.
He had sought a postponement order to prevent Weatherston appearing before the Parole Board again for several years, although it was not imposed.
“It was bad enough going through the hearing this time although it was certainly a lot better than we thought it was going to be because the Parole Board was so nice and accommodating,” Elliott said.
“I’m sure not sure I’d attend another hearing, but November 2027 we’ll have to go through it all again.”
Elliott said his daughter’s death and her killer’s brutality would hang over him “forever and a day”.
The Parole Board will assess Weatherston’s progress late next year.
Where to get help:
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
Sexual Violence
- NZ Police.
- Victim Support 0800 842 846.
- Rape Crisis: 0800 88 33 00.
- Rape Prevention Education.
- Empowerment Trust.
- HELP (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655.
- Safe to talk: 0800 044 334.
- Tautoko Tāne Male Survivors Aotearoa.
- Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496.
Family Violence
- Women’s Refuge: 0800 733 843.
- It’s Not OK 0800 456 450.
- Shine: 0508 744 633.
- Victim Support: 0800 842 846.
- HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655.
- The National Network of Family Violence Services NZ has information on specialist family violence agencies.
