The man who killed 6-year-old Napier schoolgirl Teresa Cormack in Napier in 1987 has died in prison.

Jules Mikus Source: 1 NEWS

Corrections has confirmed that Jules Mikus died from a brain tumour on Friday, December 6.

Mikus abducted, raped, and killed the Napier girl in 1987, but enjoyed 15 years of freedom until new DNA analysis techniques were used to convict him in 2002.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, preventive detention for rape, and 14 years each for the sexual assault and abduction, all served concurrently, with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.

He was at Rimutaka Prison when he died and had maintained his innocence all along.