TERESA CORMACK - Aged 6 years - Whiraniki beach, Napier (New Zealand)

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:44 am Post subject: TERESA CORMACK

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Born in Napier, New Zealand on June 18 1981 was Teresa Maida Cormack. The first child for proud parents Kelly and Ross.

On June 18 1987 Teresa turned 6 years of age, she celebrated with a nice little party full of her favourite foods and lots of presents! The following morning [June 19] she told her mother she didn't want to go to school.

Teresa pulled on an oversized red raincoat and left her home to walk the short distance to Richmond School. Teresa never made it to school. Some time around 9am Teresa vanished from the Maraenui street.

Her body was found 8 days later in a shallow shingel grave by a woman walking her dog on Whiraniki beach, 16kms from Napier. Teresa Cormack had been sexually assualted and suffocated. 3 pubic hairs were found on Teresa as well as semen taken from her body but in 1987 DNA tests were just being introduced and they DNA taken from her wasn't enough to be tested so that then wasn't a means to identify her killer.

Detective Sergeant Brian Schaab made a vow to Teresa as he guarded her body on the beach to find her killer. In 1993 Schaab was put in charge of the case that for over 6 years still remained a mystery - yet he did not give up, he kept the faith and focus of his promise to Teresa Cormack.
With DNA becoming a popular way of indentification the pubic hairs were tested and a DNA profile of the killer was founded. The long list of suspects narrowed down as suspects were eleminated and one name remained - Jules Mikus.

The road was long - nearly 15 years, but finally justice was dealt and a promise kept. Teresa Cormacks killer was arrested on Febuary 26 2002. The court trial started on September 30th 2002. On October 8th the trial finished and it took a grand jury less than 2 hours to find Jules Mikus guilty on her abduction, rape, sexual assualt and murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, preventive detention for rape, 14 years for sexual assualt and 14 years for abduction. Mikus has shown no remorse.

http://www.geocities.com/jonbenet_1990/teresa.html
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Sentence:

Jules Mikus was sentenced under the laws applicable at the time of the offence - 1987 - meaning that he got a non-parole period of seven years.

However he is unlikly to be paroled as the judge also saw fit to impose a sentence of preventive detention.

He was also given a 14 year sentence for Teresa's abduction,

Therefore he will serve at least 9 years 4 months before he can even be considered for possible release.

Eligible for parole from February 2012.