Standing over six feet tall, he has dark, short hair on an ageing face, and a thick-set neck that quickly disappears into broad, solid shoulders that have been used more than once to prop up a flailing rugby scrum.

It’s easy to distinguish the Maori in him, however the Scottish heritage is not so obvious.

What is clear to those who know him though, said one-time friend Wade Knowles, is his volatile temper.

It’s quick to flare up, over minor squabbles at times, but also quick to dissipate, Mr Knowles said.

Nicholas Katopodis experienced Hiroki’s quick temper twice on the night of July 27, 2011.

The first time he escaped with a punch in the face; the second time he didn’t escape at all.

Mr Katopodis, aged in his 40s and about half the size of Jason Hiroki, had only met the former Australian Defence Force soldier and his then-lover and first cousin, Aroha Hiroki, earlier that day through Mr Knowles.

The group had been drinking heavily and smoking cannabis at the Hiroki household when Jason Hiroki caught Mr Katopodis urinating on his bathroom floor and thumped him, knocking him out cold.

Moments later, however, Mr Katopodis was back in his chair at the table, Hiroki was back to enjoying his night, and there were no hard feelings between them, it was said.

It was still that way when Mr Knowles left at 8.30pm, he said.

However, sometime in the next three hours, for reasons that remain unknown, Jason Hiroki bludgeoned Mr Katopodis to death using a lawn bowl and an empty beer bottle.

Blood spatter evidence revealed Mr Katopodis was subjected to a series of brutal attacks throughout the home that left him with three skull fractures, a fractured forearm and a nine-centimetre cut on his head.

His body was buried under the house the following day and not found for 19 months until Jason Hiroki – in custody since being charged with the killing in September 2011 – volunteered the information to police, at the same time pointing the finger of blame at his cousin Aroha Hiroki.

Police subsequently arrested and charged Aroha Hiroki with the killing as well, however she was acquitted by a Supreme Court jury in February this year – the same panel that found Jason Hiroki guilty.

Once the verdict was handed down, prosecutors were able to reveal publicly Jason Hiroki’s past troubles with the law both in Australia and his native New Zealand.

His record showed in the decade before the murder charge, he had fronted court 11 times, on 18 charges, many of which involved acts of violence.

He received mainly fines, however at one stage was ordered to serve periodic detention for assaulting a taxi driver.

In January 2010 – his last conviction before the murder – Jason Hiroki was placed on bonds for charges of domestic assault (the victim was not named in court), resisting police and a matter of affray.

He was still serving those bonds when he killed Mr Katopodis – a matter Acting Justice Jane Mathews said was an aggravating factor, along with the use of the lawn bowl and beer bottle as weapons and his prior criminal convictions.

Mitigating factors in the case included the spontaneous nature of the crime, as well as mental health issues that stemmed in part from ongoing alcohol and substance abuse following a rugby accident in 1992 that ended his army career and gave him permanent chronic back pain.

On Tuesday, after considering all the circumstances of the case, Acting Justice Mathews sentenced Jason Hiroki to a maximum jail term of 23 years, with at least 17 to be spent behind bars.

With time already served, he will be eligible to apply for release on parole in 2028.