This is one of the saddest and most shocking stories we’ve had on Best Gore yet. 3 year old Ngatikaura Ngati was having himself a great childhood. His foster parents Kura Kaufusi and Finau who cared for him since he was one month old loved him and treated him well. He was a happy child but things took a bad turn three weeks after his third birthday.

When Maine Ngati – mother of Ngatikaura Ngati realized that she could get child support money from the government if she had her child she originally rejected in her care, she decided she was not gonna let such easy income slip out of her grasp and plucked Ngatikaura from his loving home in South Auckland, New Zealand.

Just a wee bit after three years old, Ngatikaura Ngati was thrown into a new home. Confused and stressed out, Ngatikaura found himself in Otara, in a house with other four children, including a new born. Even though he used to normally use toilet before, after his biological mother took him, he started to regularly wet himself and developed a bad ulcer on his behind.

Instead of seeking medical treatment, Ngatikaura’s mother just covered the oozing area with sanitary pad. Once happy and confident child turned into a terrified being who would mess his pants in days. Since accidents in his pants were always followed by beatings, he would try to get rid of the evidence by throwing the poop out of the window each time it occurred.

After nine weeks of living with his biological parents, Ngatikaura Ngati died. He was beaten to death. His whole body was covered with bruises to a point that the pathologist who tried to count them for the court stopped when he got to 50.

It never seemed too hard for his parents to find a reason for beating. When he crapped his pants, he was beaten. When he moved too fast, he was beaten. When he didn’t move fast enough, he was beaten. When he didn’t jump like his mother wanted him to, he was beaten. When he didn’t address his mother or his father the way they liked, he was beaten. When he didn’t play the game right, he was beaten. When he… you get the memo.

The three months of his stay with his real parents was basically a series of beatings he took almost on daily basis and the relatives turned a blind eye to it. According to the evidence presented to the High Court in Auckland, 32 year old Maine Ngati, mother of Ngatikaura would punch the child in the face with clenched fist, slap him around the face or beat him with a stick when she found him to be naughty. 27 year old Teusila Fa’asisila – Ngatikaura’s stepfather would beat him with whatever was nearby and could be used as a weapon, including a baseball bat.

Maine Ngati confessed to the police that in one of the last beatings that would lead to child’s death, she used a stick to discipline Ngatikaura but only used it for strokes to the body. She maintained that when it came to his head, she only hit him with her hand.

After this beating, Ngatikaura was covered with bruises and his arm was twice its normal size from swelling, but instead of taking him to the hospital, Maine made him take a bath and go to bed. Unable to get up in the morning due to pain in hand, Ngatikaura was unable to go to the bathroom and soiled his pants again, which triggered another vicious beating.

When his stepfather came home later that day, he showed him too which brought the child to the brink of death. Doctors said that the only thing that kept him alive at this stage was his young, strong heart. His body was black and blue, but that didn’t stop his parents from delivering more beatings the following day. Those were his last.

On his last day, Maine Ngati found his son with soiled pants again and picked up a stick. She told the police that she made him stand against the wall and lift his feet so she could beat his soles but according to the other children living in the house, this is not what happened. Autopsy also found no signs of trauma to the feet.

The more likely version is that of the children who said that Ngatikaura was beaten by his step dad with a baseball bat. Forensic experts found traces of Ngatikaura’s blood on the ceiling proving that he took strokes strong enough to send his blood this high, after he was already bleeding. Blood in lower areas of the walls and the floor was diluted proving that the couple attempted to hide the evidence. The fact that they were trying to hide it was further proven by pathologists finding bruises that were caused by a weapon which was not found in the house.

When this last beating occurred, Maine was at a job interview. After she’d returned home, Ngatikaura was beaten out of consciousness. She tried to perform CPR on him, but since boy didn’t look very well, she asked her uncle who lived nearby to come over and help.

Uncle insisted that an ambulance must be called immediately but Maine didn’t want to do it because she was afraid that the police would find out. Eventually she had no other choice so she picked up the phone and called St. John’s telling the operator that she had beaten her son with a stick but focused her conversation on requests to not tell the police.

The operator who answered her call testified that throughout the call, she was more worried about what could happen to her because of this beating, than about whether her son would survive.

Near lifeless body of Ngatikaura Ngati was taken to a hospital but despite intensive care, the doctors were unable to save the boy’s life. When child’s loving foster mother Kura Kaufusi learned about this, she rushed to the hospital and stayed by boy’s side till his last moments.

Kura Kaufusi and her husband Finau could not have children of their own. She was a cousin of Maine so when Maine asked her if she’d take her unwanted son, Kura accepted without hesitation. Then after 3 years, in November 2005, Maine took what had become the heart and soul of Kura and Finau away from them, only to kill it within 3 months.

Kura believes that Maine was claiming child benefits for more children than she was taking care of so when a threat of her being caught became real, she nabbed Ngatikaura Ngati away from Kura and Finau to ensure the money doesn’t stop coming in.

Maine Ngati and Teusila Fa’asisila were charged with murder but were found not guilty. Instead, they were found guilty of manslaughter, failure to provide medical care which could have saved Ngatikaura’s life and of wilful child cruelty. They were both sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison. Allegedly, because they were not hitting him with the sticks in the head, they were unaware they were hurting him so that was good enough of an excuse to avoid murder charges.

That’s for the sad story of Ngatikaura Ngati. Autopsy pictures of his beaten body are in the gallery below: