Anonymous informant provides fresh lead in Nicholas killing

An anonymous informant has provided police with the nickname of a person they say gunned down Hawkes Bay farmer Jack Nicholas.

The nickname "Action" was given to the Sensible Sentencing Trust, which is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the killer's arrest.

Action was alleged to be the "trigger-man" and to be from "up North", said trust spokesman Garth McVicar, who received the information in a phone call last month.

He passed on the name to police and was asked to keep it quiet.

Police have now made the nickname public, although the head of the murder inquiry was unavailable for comment.

Almost 10 months have passed since Mr Nicholas was shot with a high-powered rifle as he stood in the gateway to his farmhouse at Puketitiri, northwest of Napier.

Mr McVicar said the informant was not the same man who rang last month claiming he was an accessory to the murder. That caller followed up with a letter asking for a story to be published in the Herald before he released further details.

Mr McVicar said the nickname was passed to him on May 21, the same day a story ran in the Weekend Herald.