In the discussion of Kaon Bell’s horrible crimes long time contributor Breda has shared her encounter with him which I thought was worth a post of its own:
#32 breda
2:27 pm, 18 Jun 12I had an encounter with this guy in 2008, when (as I now know) he must have been not long out on parole. I was at the Press Club one night with a few friends, and he was there with a couple of people, and our two groups got talking.
He presented as clean-cut, bright, articulate, friendly and claimed he was trying to become a writer. As the evening wore on he latched onto me and suggested we go into town for a drink. I was ready to kick on, so off we went. He was charming and stimulating company, and now that I know about his TER score, it is a relief to know that I wasn’t imagining it.
At this point, I need to mention that I am old enough to be his mother, and while I flatter myself that I’m not too shabby for my age, he could not possibly have missed that. It is interesting that the unfortunate woman in this awful case was also considerably older than him (she had an adult child and he was in his mid-late 20s) – so it seems that Kaon might have mommy issues.
Anyway, with not a shred of romantic interest on my side, we kicked on for a bit and then I decided to call it a night. He then began to try to come home with me, or at least find out who I was and where I lived. Not having got this old by being without weirdo radar, I resisted politely. He begged and nagged and whined – it was quite sad – and no, I didn’t think for a moment it was because of my irresistible charms. He just came across as very needy and pathetic.
He pushed a scrap of paper into my hand with his name and phone number on it, and it was like something a 13 year old girl would have written – childish, rounded handwriting with a smiley face. It went in the bin when I got home.
Next time I was in Manuka, I saw him working as a waiter at MyCafe (and carefully avoided him seeing me). He worked there for quite a while, which I assumed was because he was still trying to be a writer.
Like a lot of people who commit horrible crimes, he is actually a sad case with no external signs of aggression. I have knocked about with much more overtly violent types who are not at all as dangerous as he is. Based on the escalation of his crimes, I have to agree with the judge that his prospects of rehabilitation are not good.
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