The Court of Appeal has rejected a fresh bid by the convicted murderer, Jules Mikus, to appeal against his convictions.
In 2002, Mikus was sentenced to life imprisonment and preventive detention for the abduction and murder of six-year-old Teresa Cormack in Hawke's Bay in 1987.
In May, Mikus appeared by video-link at a Court of Appeal hearing and sought an extension of time to file his appeal, along with a request for further DNA testing and a lawyer to help him with the process.
He claimed samples taken from him for testing may have been contaminated and media publicity had compromised his defence.
However, his appeal application was filed more than five years late and the Court of Appeal on Tuesday ruled there was no proper excuse for delay and the appeal has no merit.
The Court says Mikus had a DNA expert helping his defence team at trial and there is no benefit to be obtained from appointing another lawyer to act for him.