"There was no evidence from which the jury could be sure Neketai knew that the injury inflicted by the punch was likely to cause death ... and no evidence that the kick was the cause of death"
Neketai had gone there to collect a $30,000 drug debt, and when Mr Kimura refused to pay, he punched him so hard he fell backwards hitting his head on the concrete driveway.
His victim was then kicked as he lay on the ground, suffering multiple injuries, which included a fractured skull, fractures to both eye sockets and the left side of his face and a brain injury.
Mr Kimura succumbed to his injuries in Tauranga Hospital on November 16, 2011, dying on his 44th birthday - an anniversary day the family will never forget but never celebrate again.
Mrs Kimura, 48, said when she was first told the news Neketai's murder conviction was quashed, she was "shocked", and still cannot comprehend the Court of Appeal's reasoning.
"I still can't get my head around it. I can't stop crying. Everything that happened has resurfaced again just as we were all finally starting to get our lives back on track. I'm so pissed off. This has meant reliving everything we've been through again.
"Neketai didn't just punch Gary as the text messages evidence shows he intended to waste him. We still can't get any justice for Gary. It's unbelievably unfair. It feels like another stab to my heart."
Mrs Kimura said the whole family was hurting, including her 7-year-son Teina, who was 4 at the time, and to protect him he has never been told the full story of how his father died.
"We didn't want to frighten him because we still live in the same house," she said.
Mrs Kimura said it had been difficult coping on her own, and she had been through hell, including a battle with breast cancer diagnosed six months after her husband was killed.
"When Gary died it really felt like I died with him. He was my best mate and I have struggled to keep it together but I've had to for my family's sake. I will never forget the day I looked out the dining room window and saw Gary lying face down on the concrete driveway with blood all around his head. My whole world fell apart and our lives will never be the same," she said.
Mr Kimura was a well-known identity in Tauranga, and owned and ran Gary's Tyres in Sulphur Point for about 15 years, a business he established from scratch in his garage, his widow said.
Mr Kimura is also survived by his daughters Jahna, 26, 21-year-old twins Manaia and Melani, and two step-children Krystal, 29, and Kauri, 25.
At the time of his death, Mr Kimura was a grandfather to four mokopuna, and since his death two more grandchildren have been born, including a 2-year-old boy named after his grandfather.
Manaia's partner was pregnant at the time of Mr Kimura's death.
It was Melani who answered the door to Neketai and his two associates, who turned up in a strange car and politely asked to speak to her father moments before he was attacked.
Ms Kimura said she was fuming.
"It's just unbelievable. I'm gobsmacked. I just don't understand why the charge has been dropped and how he [Neketai] can slip through the system like this," she said
"I'm so angry. What right did he have to come around to our house and attack my father, and then say 'oh sorry I didn't intend to kill him'. That's absolute rubbish. He took my dad away and we can never get him back. Dad didn't deserve this and it's just not fair. I was daddy's girl hard out and I think about him every single day. It's been the hardest three years of my life."
"It's disgusting. These people don't deserve justice. They should lock them up and throw away the key," she said.
Ms Kimura said she was so livid she would be prepared to go through the ordeal of another trial if the Crown was willing and able to lodge a successful appeal to the Supreme Court.
"But after speaking to the police I know that's unlikely to happen. My dad will be turning in his grave. It's so not fair and I don't know how to fix it," she said.
Crown solicitor Greg Hollister-Jones declined to comment on the ruling.
