The Crime

• Juliana Bonilla-Herrera, a 37-year-old Colombian national, was murdered in her Addington flat in January 2022.
• Her attacker, Joseph James Brider, had been paroled to the neighboring flat.
• Bonilla-Herrera was unaware of Brider’s history of sexual violence.

The Inquest

Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame will preside over the 10-day inquest, examining more than 20 key issues. These include:

• Decisions made prior to Brider’s release from prison.
• Information provided to the New zealand Parole Board.
• The Department of Corrections’ assessment of Brider’s accommodation suitability.
• The management and monitoring of Brider following his release.
• Whether the community should have been informed of Brider’s presence.

Sentencing and Background

Brider received a life sentance with a minimum non-parole period of 23 years, along with preventive detention in February 2023. This ensures he will be managed by the Department of Corrections for the remainder of his life.

In the weeks leading up to her death, Bonilla-Herrera confided in friends that Joseph Brider was watching her and she felt threatened and unsafe.

The night of the murder, Brider broke into her flat while she slept and subjected her to a prolonged and violent attack, repeatedly stabbing and beating her as she begged for her life.

parole and Risk Assessment

Brider was granted parole in November 2021, three months before his statutory release date. He was classified as a medium-to-high risk of re-offending and was paroled under 14 special conditions, including electronic monitoring.

Reviews and Policy Changes

following Bonilla-Herrera’s murder, both the Department of Corrections and the Parole Board conducted reviews of Brider’s release and management.

An internal review by chief probation officer Darius Fagan concluded that the actions of staff neither caused nor could have prevented the crime.

However, Sir Ron Young, chair of the Parole Board, stated that Corrections had supplied incorrect information during the parole decision process, calling it a serious failure. A separate review refuted this claim.

Victoria Heine KC’s review found that while Corrections did not provide incorrect information, the parole Board would have benefited from knowing that a referral to the Salisbury Street foundation was cancelled due to bed availability concerns.

Corrections subsequently changed its community notification policy to include adult sex offenders, expanding beyond the previous guidelines that only alerted the community to parolees who had offended against children.

statements from the Case

During Brider’s sentencing, crown prosecutor Claire Boshier described the killing as a person’s worst nightmare. Justice Jonathan Eaton stated that the murder involved a high degree of brutality, cruelty, depravity and callousness.