Ueta Vea appeared in the High Court at Auckland this morning after pleading guilty to murder in May.
The 45-year-old ambushed Laulimu Liuasi with a machete on the grounds of Ōtara's St John the Evangelist Church on 13 January.
Both he and Mr Liuasi knew each other well. They were congregants of the church and had previously completed grounds maintenance together.
At the time of his death Mr Liuasi, 62, was working and living on the church grounds as a handyman.
