By Virginia Fallon and Bill Hickman of 
Raymond Ratima was convicted of seven murders, attempted murder and the murder of an unborn child in 1992. (File photo). Photo: Supplied / Stuff
Mass murderer Raymond Ratima has been denied parole again.
The Parole Board declined Ratima's application on Friday. It would be Ratima's 14th application for parole since he was convicted of seven murders and attempted murder and murder of an unborn child in 1992.
Corrections spokesperson Geordie Cassin said Ratima would be eligible to apply for parole again in April 2024.
Ratima's three sons Piri, 6, Barney, 4 and Stacey, 2 were killed in their grandparents' Masterton home on 26 June, 1992.
Ratima, who is now in his mid-50s, also killed their uncle, 14-year-old Phillip Ferguson Jr, their aunt Nicola Ferguson, her partner Bevan Tepu, Nicola and Bevan's two-year-old son Steven, and the couple's unborn baby, who was just a month away from birth.
Ratima last applied for parole in September 2021. He was denied parole when questions arose about his level of understanding of the circumstances that led to the murders.
Parole Board chairman Sir Ron Young said in his hearing report at the time that Ratima had made positive progress in prison.
His conduct was respectful, he was working on the prison site, he had nearly 100 sessions with a psychologist, and Corrections had reported that he needed no further rehabilitative work.
However, when questioned about the risk arising from his murders, he focused solely on the work that he had done with a psychologist relating to the risks he might face in the community if confronted by an upset member of the public or a victim.
Throughout the hearing he stressed how much he loved his children. When he was asked why he killed them, he said he felt then he was putting them in a better place, the report said.
"Overall, therefore, we were not especially confident that Mr Ratima had truly understood the circumstances under which he came to kill these members of his family including not just his own children, but the babysitter, partner, and others,'' the report said.
* This story originally appeared on Stuff.
