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Stewart Murray Wilson. - Source: Fairfax -
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Freed sex predator Stewart Murray Wilson claims he was threatened with a knife by a convicted murderer - and fended off other attackers - during his 16 years of a "living hell" behind bars.
The man dubbed The Beast of Blenheim also claims he was offered sex by two female prison guards while in jail, but turned them down because he did not want to get into trouble.
Wilson, 65, was jailed for 21 years in 1996 after being convicted on 22 sex charges against women and children between 1971 and 1994.
He was released from prison into self-care unit No 5 on Whanganui Prison grounds on August 29 after five failed bids to be freed. He will live in the unit until a two-bedroom home nearby is ready for him to move into this week.
In his first public interview in nearly two decades, Wilson last week maintained his "not guilty status" and refused to apologise to his victims.
After he was found guilty at the High Court in Wellington, the reviled sexual predator spent nine years in the "concrete jungle" of Paparoa Prison before he was transferred to Rolleston Prison in Christchurch.
Many inmates were upset at his arrival - not just because he was a sex offender, but because of the stir his case had created.
"Because I was always in the bloody media, people were jealous. They'd yell and scream and jump up and down and others would say 'leave him alone, he's had enough'."
Wilson had to watch his back, but things settled down and he found himself cooking in the kitchen, "doing the laundry for the boys" and an array of other jobs.
He also spent time drawing and playing cards, darts and pool.
"I would pick and choose who the people were I talked to. I just kept my head down and kept working."
That was until he was threatened by an inmate convicted of stabbing a man to death in Methven in 2004. The inmate swung a knife at Wilson, who then quit his kitchen job.
He never revealed to prison staff why he quit.
"I just got up and walked away," Wilson said. "I just said 'I've had enough, I'm getting out of the kitchen'."
After that he would spend his days tending to the prison's garden.
"I had a lot of time in the garden and I loved every minute of it - the peace and quiet and you've got nobody bossing you around."
Wilson said he was involved in three other altercations.
"I went up on three charges of having a fight and I won all three - not bad for an old man.
"The other fellas admitted they started it and they threw the first punch. I pleaded not guilty. Because there were no witnesses the other three got off as well."
Wilson said his record was clear while in prison: "I was a model prisoner as far as they [Corrections staff] were concerned.
"They [psychologists advising the Parole Board] are saying now I can't comply with the rules. I think that's a bit of a back-door story there."