Source: Radio New Zealand
A specialist multi-agency family violence unit was unaware a man had been in a relationship with a woman he harassed and stalked, making nearly 600 calls to her in two weeks, before fatally stabbing her 55 times.
Corrections had asked police to check the suitability of the woman’s address for the man to live at.
On Thursday, Nathan Boulter – who had a long history of stalking and assaulting ex-partners – pleaded guilty to murdering a woman in Parklands, Christchurch, on 23 July.
The woman had been in a brief relationship with Boulter. After she ended it, he harassed, stalked and threatened her, making nearly 600 calls in two weeks, before hiding outside her home, then stabbing her 55 times with a hunting knife, as she arrived home with her children.
Court documents revealed Boulter and the victim had been in a brief relationship, which began in May. After Boulter was recalled to prison, the woman terminated the relationship and told him she did not want any further contact from him.
He was released from prison on 7 July.
Speaking to RNZ’s Checkpoint on Friday, Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill said, after Boulter was released, police were contacted by Corrections to check or verify the suitability of the victim’s address, which Boulter had listed.
Boulter was on release conditions at the time, which included not moving addresses without the written consent of his probation officer.
Hill said he understood police reported their view on that, and the woman had told either Corrections or police she was “not welcoming him back into the home”.
In 2016, the Integrated Safety Response (ISR) model was launched. According to the police website, the ISR is a multi-agency intervention, including police, Oranga Tamariki and Corrections, designed to ensure the immediate safety of victims and children and to work with perpetrators to prevent further violence.
“Key features of ISR include dedicated staff, funded specialist services for victims and perpetrators, daily risk assessment and triage, family safety plans, an electronic case management system and an intensive case management approach to collectively work with high risk families.”
Asked whether any risk assessment was done by the ISR team, Hill said the unit had not been notified that Boulter and the woman were in a relationship.
Hill said police would normally attend a family-harm event, do a report and it got entered into the safety response “virtual table”.
“Then all agencies report in what information they hold about the perpetrator and what information they hold about the victim, and then a risk assessment is done, the risk is determined and then the appropriate response is decided on.”
Police at the scene of the murder. RNZ / Adam Burns
Hill said, if the ISR had been involved, it “might have seen that there was some risk and a risk assessment done”.
“Of course, they can’t act if they don’t know.”
Asked if, given Boulter’s violent history and obsessive behaviour, the ISR should have been notified, Hill said it was “too early to tell”.
Hill said a Family Harm Death Review was underway to establish what information was shared and the information had been passed on to ISR.
“Naturally, you’d think that would be the right thing to do, but I think it’s really appropriate to let that run its course, before we jump to conclusions that, ‘Hey, this absolutely should have been done’.
“I’d like all these facts and info in any cases of this nature to be before them, so we can do that decision-making, and I don’t know what the circumstances or what prevented that from happening on this case.”
Asked if he believed Corrections should have notified the ISR team, Hill said he was unable to comment.
“I don’t know what information they had in front of them.”
Hill was unsure if the woman was warned by police about Boulter’s criminal history.
“I understand that our team were aware that, if you checked him online, you could find other information. It was pretty evident from the conversation that was had with her, not by police, that she was aware of his background to some degree.
“I’m not sure exactly what.”
Court documents said Boulter “developed an unhealthy fixation with the victim”.
“Once released, the defendant began a significant electronic harassment of the victim, by making 581 calls to the victim between 7 July, 2025, and 20 July, 2025, which she tried to ignore.
“In response, the victim made zero calls.”
Boulter used different cellphone numbers and social media profiles to harass, stalk and threaten the woman.
On 14 July, he sent several email messages to the woman, threatening to “chop u down to nothing” and “one two guess who’s coming to you! Your lack of human compassion and empathy will be the death of you one day soon my Lil hoe! Xxx”.
The woman began locking her front gate with a padlock to keep herself safe. She also told her friends and family of Boulter’s threats.
‘Give us the opportunity to come and help you’
Hill said police were not notified of the harassment.
“That’s probably in my mind, that’s key to this is that, while she had told family members and friends that she had reported this, she hadn’t reported anything about the online abuse that she had suffered from him.
“I think it’s really key to this is that, if you know family members are being subjected to this or you are yourself, you really need to complain to us about that, and give us the opportunity to come and help you.”
Hill said what happened was a “horrible tragedy”.
“All family-harm homicides are arguably preventable in some way and that’s what we really want to do – make sure that, if there’s a part of this that we’ve got wrong, we need to own that and make sure that we do everything in our power to prevent that from ever happening again.”
Release conditions
Corrections director of communities, partnerships and pathways David Roberts told RNZ Boulter was subject to release conditions at the time of the murder
“When he was released, we worked with police in a multi-agency group to monitor his risk and his compliance with his conditions.”
Following the murder, Corrections commissioned a review into Boulter’s management.
“Part of this includes how Corrections communicated and worked with relevant agencies, including police. This review is nearing completion.
“Once it is complete, we will be reaching out to the family of the woman to offer them the opportunity to meet with us and discuss the findings of the review. We believe providing this information to them first is the right thing to do.”
Corrections chief victims advisor Ruth Money. RNZ / Niva Chittock
Chief victims advisor Ruth Money earlier called the woman’s death “one more example of preventable tragedy”.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it – I just do not believe that we have the system right for our highest-risk and our highest-threat prisoners and offenders.”
Money said she understood reviews were underway by police, Corrections and other agencies. She would look at each of the reviews individually, but also from a systemic lens.
“How did it work, or not? How should it have?
“Do we have the right provisions in the system to do this better and we just simply didn’t? Why not?
“Do we need to change the system somehow to make sure that this doesn’t happen again?”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
