1979 Cold Case

[Maha]

I heard earlier that a man has been arrested for the murder of the Turangi Service Station Worker in 1979?
The accused lived next door to us in the 60's and early 70's.
He had been arrested/charged soon after the shooting but was not convicted.
He had been to a party at Lochinver (sp) on the Napier/Taupo highway...left there to go see his two kids (marriage had split) and got to Turangi Servo...dude had just closed...Mr H got a gun out of the car and shot the guy..young boy 6-7 year old? saw it happen.
Mr H went back to party he had left earlier and spoke of what he had just done.

My sister worked for the Law Firm that handled the case in Taupo at the time.
She now works in media.
His was the only criminal case under lock and key in the office.
Alot of the evidence has been in the UK for all these years...forensics have now come to the fore.
His name has been suppressed so I cant say who it is but, two of my sisters has confirmed its Mr H.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10771038
His family once owned a Hunting shop in Pamerston North.
Mr H would set a target up on his lounge wall the lay on the floor in his bedroom at the other end of the house and fire his air rifle at it...
But it was the 60's afterall and people did dumb shit back then.

[nodrog]

its a fuckin setup, Mr H doesnt look like he could hurt a fly, let alone bust a cap in somebodies ass!

http://lw025.k12.sd.us/images/Mr.H.gif

[JustNick]

I heard earlier that a man has been arrested for the murder of the Turangi BP Service Station Worker in 1979?
The accused lived next door to us in the 60's and early 70's.
He had been arrested/charged soon after the shooting but was not convicted.
He had been to a party at Lochinver (sp) on the Napier/Taupo highway...left there to go see his two kids (marriage had split) and got to Turangi BP...dude had just closed...Mr H got his rifle out of the car and shot the guy..young boy 6-7 year old? saw it happen.
Mr H went back to party he had left earlier and spoke of what he had just done.

My sister worked for a the who handled the case Lawyer in Taupo at the time and knows so much more about the case than I do.
She works in media.
His was the only criminal case under lock and key in the office.
Alot of the evidence has been in the UK for all these years...forensics have now come to the fore.
His name has been suppressed so I cant say who it is but, Two of my sisters has confirmed its Mr H.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10771038

His family once owned a Hunting shop in Pamerston North.
Mr H would set a target up on his lounge wall the lay on the floor in his bedroom at the other end of the house and fire his air rifle at it...
But it was the 60's afterall and people did dumb shit back then.

It sounds like there was some pretty compelling evidence for a conviction when it first happened? Do you have any idea why it took so long for an arrest to be made?

[Maha]

It sounds like there was some pretty compelling evidence for a conviction when it first happened? Do you have any idea why it took so long for an arrest to be made?

No weapon...the little boy was too young to testify...?
I have no idea why now?...forensics?
But a number of people have known it he did it all these years..he had three christian names, he chose one of them and changed his first name soon after the murder..just swapped his names around.

[pritch]

Mr H would set a target up on his lounge wall the lay on the floor in his bedroom at the other end of the house and fire his air rifle at it...
But it was the 60's afterall and people did dumb shit back then.


Shit oh dear! I used to have a 10m air pistol range in the house and practice every day. And this was in the 90s.
I'd likely still be doing it if I didn't have arthritis in both shoulders...

So I'm wondering what this behaviour indicates other than that I was trying to improve my scores?

[nadroj]

I went to school with the victim - Rod and his brother Lee in the late 60's. Rod played in a band we used when we organised the local dances at the Stratford war memorial hall around 73-75.

I bought a 56 Customline off them just for the diff for $30 to use in a bucket (hot rod) I was building at the time.

Turangi Rod & Custom club had a memorial run in his name we attended in the Model A in the early 80's.

[Maha]

Shit oh dear! I used to have a 10m air pistol range in the house and practice every day. And this was in the 90s.
I'd likely still be doing it if I didn't have arthritis in both shoulders...

So I'm wondering what this behaviour indicates other than that I was trying to improve my scores?

A wee bit odd...if you have two young daughters running around the house at the time.

[Edbear]

Linky no worky for me...

[newhere]

Jez wouldn't want him for my neighbor!!!!!!! Seems a bit stink that so many people knew it was Mr H and the family is only now getting any sort of justice :confused:

[nadroj]

Try this one. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6086408/Law-tech-changes-lead-to-arrest-over-1979-murder

[Maha]

Jez wouldn't want him for my neighbor!!!!!!! Seems a bit stink that so many people knew it was Mr H and the family is only now getting any sort of justice :confused:

I bumped into the bloke once or twice when I lived in Rotorua...he had a lockup across from me.
It was kinda weird talking to him after all those years knowing that he killed someone and got away with it.

[newhere]

I bumped into the bloke once or twice when I lived in Rotorua...he had a lockup across from me.
It was kinda weird talking to him after all those years knowing that he killed someone and got away with it.

I can only imagine, really who really goes around shooting people and carries on not a care in the world (implied as its 32 years off freedom he wouldn't have had if arrested and dealt with at the time) - its fucking shocking :confused:

[avgas]

Interesting.
I wonder if my old man knows about him. I think he was in Turangi around then, doing his tunneller managers tickets with MOW.

Any idea on why he shot the victim, without going into too much detail.

[thecharmed01]

Will be interesting to see the evidence come out.
I don't get how cases can go so long without someone being charged. The mind boggles!

[Winston001]

My sister worked for a the who .....


Sorry man but I couldn't get past this. What on earth do you mean? :eek5:

[Maha]

Interesting.
I wonder if my old man knows about him. I think he was in Turangi around then, doing his tunneller managers tickets with MOW.

Any idea on why he shot the victim, without going into too much detail.

...because he wouldn't let Mr H have any petrol...the Servo had just closed.

[Maha]

Sorry man but I couldn't get past this. What on earth do you mean? :eek5:

..the Law Firm.

[Winston001]

Will be interesting to see the evidence come out.
I don't get how cases can go so long without someone being charged. The mind boggles!

Sooo....we'll see Jack the Ripper in the dock soon? And the Boston Strangler? The murderers of Jennifer Beard, Mona Blades, Kirsa Jensen, Kirsty Bentley, oh and lets not forget Cris and Cru Kahui...

Unfortunately despite having suspects, the police cannot always get enough to have a case. The Kahui Twins is a vivid example of the problem.

[thecharmed01]

Sooo....we'll see Jack the Ripper in the dock soon? And the Boston Strangler? The murderers of Jennifer Beard, Mona Blades, Kirsa Jensen, Kirsty Bentley

Erm why? Those cases are completely different. There is very little knowledge to go on in any of the cases you quoted, where this one seems to have a lot of people who are aware of what happened and are suspicious of a particular person (clearly for good reason) and he bragged about it.


The Kahui Twins is a vivid example of the problem.

Well, it's an example of a problem. Probably not the one at hand though.

[Maha]

Erm why? Those cases are completely different. There is very little knowledge to go on in any of the cases you quoted, where this one seems to have a lot of people who are aware of what happened and are suspicious of a particular person (clearly for good reason) and he bragged about it.


I saw him in 84'-85'? when I was living in Taupo.
I walked up to him and said ''Hello M...you haven't seen me in 15 years'' etc etc and so it went on.
He said ''I dont go by that name anymore, its now J..''
Started asking after the family and that was about it...
Couldn't really ask what he had been up to ....:rolleyes:
His Daughter was a reporter for the Herald when I last saw him mid 90's.

[Maha]

He has interim name suppression....:confused:
Or could it be that Stuff has not named the man arrested yesterday but, supplied the name of the man arrested the day after the shooting?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6089774/Turangi-cold-case-accused-speaks-out

[sil3nt]

He has interim name suppression....:confused:
Or could it be that Stuff has not named the man arrested yesterday but, supplied the name of the man arrested the day after the shooting?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6089774/Turangi-cold-case-accused-speaks-outJust read that and it left me confused. Safe to say it was not the person that was arrested earlier?

[Maha]

Just read that and it left me confused. Safe to say it was not the person that was arrested earlier?

He wasn't named as the man arrested on friday..
Interesting that he spoke to the Dominion Post, so they now know who he is.
In fact..technically, the name in print is not the name that he has been known by for the last 30 years.



http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6096432/Attendant-shot-when-he-couldn-t-serve-customer

[Maha]

Guilty of Murder says the Jury. Hallet to be sentenced in July.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8618858/Cold-case-killer-found-guilty

[Banditbandit]

He's 70 something years old ... and a racist arsehole ...

Just give him the mandatory minimum of 10 years ... he won't get out alive ... I'd be surprised if he makes it to sentencing ... he'll be housed with the convicted prisoners now ...

[Paul in NZ]

Yup - justice a long time coming here..... Damn shame they didnt nail the bastard at the time....

[Road kill]

He's 70 something years old ... and a racist arsehole ...

Just give him the mandatory minimum of 10 years ... he won't get out alive ... I'd be surprised if he makes it to sentencing ... he'll be housed with the convicted prisoners now ...

Nope,he'll go straight to segregation an then after classification he'll be moved to one of the holiday homes the department runs for the white collar types.
He'd never get dumped in with the brown bro's or the white trash because that would be a clear breach of the departments duty of care.
Right now "pre sentencing" he'll be getting held in the "capital crimes" cells which are totally segregated from the general population and won't be getting any contact with the more common peasants and that basic theme will continue for as long as he requests that type of segregation.
Of course both his lawyer and prisoners aid will of all ready made him more than aware of this.
Which is probably why the smug fuck was smiling so much in court.

[Maha]

Hallet was sentenced today to Life in prison, little comfort for the family of Rodney Tahu I would suspect? given that he probably won't serve the term due to his failing health.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8909067/Man-sentenced-over-30-year-old-murder