Source: Radio New Zealand
Malcolm Rewa in court in 2019. RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Warning: This story contains graphic details.
It took a woman nearly four decades to find out the name of the stranger who raped her when she was 16 years old. Today that stranger will finally be sentenced for the attack. National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reveals how the stranger was unmasked.
For nearly 40 years he was the man with no name.
The stranger who raped her when she was 16 years old had evaded police for decades, leaving her resigned to the belief that his name was one she would never know.
Then, last year, the woman was talking to a therapist who suggested she contact the police to see what they had on file.
“It had never occurred to me to do that,” she tells RNZ.
“I assumed any evidence would be under constant review. I could not have been more wrong.”
What followed led to a DNA match – and the name of her attacker, serial rapist and murderer Malcolm Rewa.
“I cried and felt an overwhelming sense of relief,” the woman says.
“After 37 years I finally had a name, a face, for the unknown person who had inflicted so much harm.”
Rewa, who is already serving a life sentence for murdering Susan Burdett in 1992 as well as preventive detention with a minimum non-parole period of 22 years for sexual attacks on 25 women will be sentenced in the High Court at Auckland on Friday.
Ahead of sentencing the woman spoke with RNZ about the impact of Rewa’s offending, her “long-harrowing journey”, and her message to any other possible victims of Rewa.
The attack
It was 18 June 1988.
The woman, then 16, was attending a 18th birthday party in Onehunga.
The teenager, who had been drinking, left the party to have a break and get some fresh air.
While sitting on the curb of the street she could hear people laughing and talking.
A stranger then approached her from behind and wrapped a rope around her neck, suffocating her.
He then dragged her to the rear of a nearby property where he raped her.
After the rape stopped, he told her to stay where she was, or he would come back.
She eventually ran back to the party and told the first person she saw she was raped.
Police were called and completed a forensic medical examination and they found the suspect’s DNA, however there was no DNA databank available to compare samples taken from the complainant with. It wasn’t until 1996 that there would be a DNA databank.
Police investigated the incident, and appealed to the public for information, but were unable to find the offender.
The DNA
About eight years later, a man by the name Malcolm Rewa was arrested after a violent assault on a 16-year-old. Rewa was being investigated by police at the time in relation to several unsolved rapes.
Later that year he was sentenced to preventive detention with a minimum non-parole period of 22 years, after he was convicted of sexual attacks on 25 women.
It was not until 2019 that Rewa would be sentenced for murdering Burdett in 1992.
Meanwhile, the woman who Rewa raped in 1988 had no justice.
“I was resigned to the fact that I would never know who attacked me that night, and the case would never be solved.”
Then, last year she spoke with a therapist about the “injustice” that she was the only one who had “truly paid the price for this brutal attack”.
“She suggested I contact the police to see what they had on file. It had never occurred to me to do that; I assumed any evidence would be under constant review. I could not have been more wrong.”
Court documents say the woman called the Police 105 line and asked if her medical swabs still existed, and if they had ever been compared against the DNA databank.
The woman said the nature of the attack made her think that the person may have offended against someone else.
Police inquiries revealed the swabs did still exist and they were run against the DNA database. The DNA from the semen matched Rewa.
The woman says she cried, and felt an “overwhelming sense of relief”, when she heard police had identified the man who had remained a mystery for so long.
‘It changed the course of my life’
She says it’s “horrific” to think of all the lives affected by his offending.
“He hasn’t just hurt those women and irrevocably changed their lives – he has impacted their families, friends, and the wider community. It’s hard to comprehend how one person could cause so much damage.”
As for her, she says it’s difficult to put into words how much the offending had affected her.
“It changed the course of my life completely – how I live, trust, and relate to others. It had a deep and lasting impact that extended beyond me, into the lives of those closest to me.”
Looking back, she says the police who investigated the rape initially were “inexperienced”.
“While they were doing their best, they didn’t fully understand the extreme sensitivity and fragility involved.
“I remember that one of the leads they publicised was the rope; a detective sergeant appeared in the paper holding it and appealing for information.”
She says police have “come a long way since then”.
“Police have been incredibly supportive, caring, and relentless in their pursuit of justice. As one detective said at the start, ‘there will be an army of people supporting you and walking beside you through it all,’ and they have done exactly that.”
Sentencing will mark the end of what she describes as a “long, harrowing journey”.
“I’m looking forward to putting it behind me. I’m less concerned about the sentence itself than ensuring he can never harm anyone ever again.”
She doesn’t think there will ever be “complete closure”.
“I can’t forget, but I can rest easy now. I’m just grateful I don’t have to testify – that would have been a traumatic and soul-destroying process.”
She also spoke of the impact of having to wait nearly 40 years for justice.
“When I look at all the steps I have taken to survive, the fear, terror and impact upon my life – I’m just sad, incredibly sad.”
A police report from 2006 estimated Rewa may have been involved in up to 26 other sexual attacks.
The woman says coming forward is never easy, and to anyone hesitant about speaking to police she says it’s “entirely your decision, you are in control”.
“Just remember, the shame is not yours to carry, you are stronger than you know and you deserve to be free.”
Where to get help:
- Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason
- Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357
- Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends
- Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202
- Samaritans: 0800 726 666
- Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
- What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds
- Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, and English.
- Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254
- Healthline: 0800 611 116
- Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
- OUTLine: 0800 688 5463
- Aoake te Rā bereaved by suicide service: or call 0800 000 053
Sexual Violence
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
