Partner facing murder charge

The partner of slain Rawene woman Barbara Ann Moka has been charged with her murder.

Forty-three-year-old Matiu Wirihana Korewha, aka Mathew Wilson Korewha, made a brief appearance in the Kaikohe District Court yesterday, standing with his head bowed and making no eye contact with his or Ms Moka's friends and relatives in the public gallery.

Judge Keith de Ridder remanded him in custody to appear in the High Court at Whangarei on July 18. No application for bail was made, but counsel Catherine Cull did apply for a continuation of last week's suppression orders. She said she was concerned that publication of a charge laid last week could affect her client's chances of a fair trial, but Judge de Ridder saw "no real risk" of that. He also noted that there was strong public interest in the case, which was already in the public domain.

Korewha made his first court appearance last week on a charge of injuring Ms Moka with intent to injure in relation to an alleged assault on her on January 7. He is due back in the Kaikohe District Court on that charge on July 17.

Ms Moka's body was found in bush about 800 metres up a metal farm road from Omanaia's Te Piiti Marae, where she was last seen in the early hours of June 9. Korewha, who had been Ms Moka's partner since she moved to Rawene last year, originally told police they had left a tangi together but crashed a short distance up Omanaia Road.

They had walked back to the marae, from where she subsequently disappeared.

Friends and family became alarmed when Ms Moka had not used her cell phone or bank account for a week.

Her body was not found in an initial search around the marae and crash scene, because it was just outside the search boundary. Police would say only that information from the public eventually led them to her.

The Moka and Korewha families were kept on opposite sides of the courtroom yesterday, but there was no obvious sign of tension. The only interruption came after a discussion on name suppression when a Moka family supporter called out: "Name yourself man, you ******* idiot."

Ms Moka worked as a receptionist at the Copthorne Hotel at Omapere. Her four children, aged 7 to 15, did not live with her. It is understood she was buried in Auckland where most of her whanau now live.

Korewha, who lived on Rawene's Parnell Street, had been employed as a tour guide at Footprints Waipoua and Crossing Hokianga, award-winning ecotourism ventures that offer twilight walks in Waipoua Forest and cruises on the Hokianga Harbour.

The Footprints Waipoua website said Korewha had been studying sustainable rural development at NorthTec. He had previously volunteered with World Vision and Doctors Without Borders in countries such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Algeria. After returning to New Zealand in 2009 he initially worked for Ngapuhi Iwi Social Services.