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Krystal Bennett, from her parents Sharlene and Malcolm Barnett

We have been asked to put pen to paper and tell how Krystal being killed has made us feel, there are no words to describe the anguish and desolation that we feel at the loss of Krystal people say they understand how we feel but no one can understand how this loss has affected us and made us feel

I guess this is every parent’s worst nightmare. A knock at the door at 12.30 am and to have a police officer stand there say “ I’m very sorry but your daughter Krystal Bennett was killed in a car accident last evening at 6.00 PM on the Upper Hutt motorway” The anguished cry of my wife as she crumples to the floor and then to have to physically pick her up from the floor and support her while the news sinks in Krystal our Krystal has been killed in a car accident

The next few days are a monstrous nightmare of being unable to drive to Wellington through no sleep and the anguish of trying to comprehend what has happened we flew down, as we were incapable of driving and seeing krystal for the first time at the funeral home. Things we have never had to do before like picking out a casket for her and finding clothes to dress her in for her funeral things a parent should never have to do. Upon seeing Krystal for the first time The shock of the bruising and the swollen features didn’t look like her at all, the bruising was bearable to look at but the shape of her face had changed with the force of the impact and we had to move her in the casket so that her lovely long neck was visible as she looked crunched up but that was due to the force of the impact. there is such desolation and anger and overwhelming hatred for the person who killed our daughter. Looking at Krystal in the casket here in Taupo we said to each other this shouldn’t be kids should look at their parents in a coffin NOT the other way around

The practical steps of organising a funeral service for her became a blur of days that followed. We picked up Krystals ashes after the funeral service which is all we have left now of a young vibrant georgous daughter, who had so much going for her in life. She had a brilliant job at Dick Smiths in Upper Hutt where she had been working. Where week in and week out she out sold the guys on the shop floor. Results came out giving sales ranking’s Krystal was ranked 57th out of 1400 Dick Smith employees but she will never know this as these results came out 3 days after she was killed. She had only been there for 2 months what a future she could have had

Sharlene and I both work in jobs where we meet and see hundreds of people daily and for months we have had people saying how sorry they are for us in our loss and every time someone consoles us it brings it all flooding back again. People say, “I’m sorry to hear your daughter died in a car accident “

We reply “ Krystal didn’t die in a car accident, she was killed was killed by someone who should never have been behind a wheel of a car”

Sharlene and I both feel that what ever sentence this girl receives for killing Krystal that we have been sentenced to lifetime sentence ourselves A lifetime of nothing for our daughter. This girl will turn 21 and have a 21stt party Krystal wont This girl will maybe get married and have children Krystal wont We cant ever help Krystal do anything in life any more as there is nothing left for our daughter any more no more waltzing in the door and taking the onions off my plate cause they are cooked just the way she liked them, no more fashion shows of clothes and shoes after shopping and she loved to shop.

Krystal had so much going for her, she was cheerful, bright bubbly sometimes moody quick witted Sharlene can still see the funny little skip that she does when she gets excited about things like paydays her beautiful eyes she will never forget . Her $5500.00 smile through orthodontic work, we can only imagine how beautiful her children would have looked. Sharlene and I love all our 5 daughters as they each bring something different to our lives but Krystal had something different, maybe a brightness and a different way of looking at life but that has now been taken away from us. There are 2 photos of Krystal that Sharlene cant look at without crying and wanting to have her here again with us

When Sharlene thinks of Krystal she cries, and when she tries not to think of her, she thinks that maybe Krystal thinks she doesn’ t love her She feels that she is in hell and just wishes she could be free and just wants Krystal to be with her again. We both carry photos of Krystal with us in her car my truck, on our key rings and even on my motorbike and we also have photos of her at our offices When her sister went overseas to finish her OE that was interrupted when Krystal was killed she had a t shirt printed with Krystals photo on so she could be with her on her trip

People say that time is a great healer but in this case we find that not to be the case. Sharlene now has to take anti depressants so she can function during the day and then takes sleeping pills to be able to sleep without waking at night crying her heart out for Krystal and the ironic part about it is that they interrupt normal marital relationships and she has to be careful not to get addicted to the pills she has to take to be able to carry on each day. We have also been going to counselling to help to put things into perspective for us which at times you wonder why you are doing this as at times it seems pointless . We have sensed a change in Krystal’s sisters and find it increasingly difficult to breach through the sadness and feel helpless and powerless to know what to say and do when we feel so inadequate ourselves to help them.

We never had the chance to say goodbye to Krystal or give her a hug or to tell her we love her as some people can do if they know a person is sick The last time we saw Krystal was Queens Birthday weekend 2005 when we brought some household things for her never knowing that was to be the last time we would see her. She was taken from us in the most tragic and horrific way an innocent person doing her own thing. The last time we heard from her was a text message to me on Fathers day, just one day before she was killed ,we will keep and cherish that text message always. If there had been median barriers on the motorway this would never have happened and Krystal would still be with us today.

On Krystals birthday 23rd Dec 2005 we went and erected a cross at the accident site. As Sharlene always thinks well ahead we already had Krystal’s birthday and Christmas presents. On Christmas day we went back to the cross and had Christmas with Krystal we got through the day with the help of family and friends who helped us open her gifts but what about this Birthday and Christmas and the next and the next

It's been 10 months now and we miss Krystal as much as on the first day .Our life has been turned upside down in a way that should never have happened. Our love for each other is all that keeps us going, I would give anything in the whole wide world to have the loving caring devoted wife that I once had when Krystal was alive, instead I have a wife that I knows loves me in every way but finds it hard to show the love and emotion that I once knew, the patience and love I have for Sharlene is the strongest bond we have and I can only pray for the time that the pain and anguish of losing Krystal has eased and we can function almost normally again

Sharlene waits for the text “ Ring me now I want to talk and have no money on my phone “Her agony is in all things about us to Krystals room where we play her favourite music daily to the flowers we buy on the 5th of each month on the date she was killed and to the garden we have made for her with a weeping cheery tree and an angel and a seat to sit and talk to her and with bright flowers and 2 plaques at the Entrance of her garden made in her memory we both sit in her bedroom and talk to her for ages with all her photos and memorabilia that was Krystal. All her clothes and shoes are still in her wardrobe and drawers Her ashes are still in her bedroom as that is the only way she is still here with us, once they are in the ground in her garden that means she is gone forever and that is too hard to bear the thought of, so we have to wait until the time is right

She loved sports we had V8 touring cars promo in Taupo that she would have loved being part of trackside. She will never see an All Black test ,Byron Kellher was her favourite player Krystal played rugby and football at school and loved watching all games that were on TV on matter how late at night

The sleepless nights and days that you just want to hide away from everybody are still part of our life, and the times when we realise that there is so much we are missing out on and all the things we want to say to Krystal that we cant To tell her we love her and to put right any wrongs that may have happened even though Krystal is my step daughter I love her as one of my own daughters

Krystals name says it all she was named Krystal Joy for the purest and loveliest of things that crystals are and for the joy she brought to Sharlenes life when she needed just that 18 short years ago. That doesn’t mean she loves our other 4 daughters any less but to lose the baby of the family is utterly unthinkable and impossible to cope with

Sharlene and Malcolm Barnett

The above is from an Victim Impact Statement prepared by Krystal's parents which they have given us permission to place online

The offender's details may be found here