Yesterday in the High Court, two men with connections to the Killer Beez street gang were found guilty of the murder of Siaosi Tulua, 39, and Faaifo Joseph Siaosi, 23, in separate incidents in South Auckland in 2019. Steve Braunias reports on the strangely efficient verdict in which each of the two defendants was found guilty of a murder. Each was also found not guilty of a murder.
One of the great constants of trials at the High Court of Auckland is the jury’s lunch trolley. It got wheeled out yesterday just after 1pm when the jury was sent out to deliberate on a double-murder trial that had taken 28 days and involved over 90 witnesses. There were the sausage rolls, the club sandwiches, the spongey muffins - the menu never changes, and it was all set to be delivered again the following day, because no one expected a quick verdict in a trial so complex and dense. But just as detectives and a dark cabal of nine lawyers were thinking of packing up to go home at 5.10pm, the jury reached a verdict. Justice waits for no repeat order of sausage rolls.
The verdict was breathtakingly fast and also strangely efficient. It had something for everyone. It was a win for the police and prosecution, and a win, too, for the defence. Each of the two men - both with connections to the Killer Beez street gang - was found guilty of a murder. Each was also found not guilty of a murder.
Two homicide teams were linked up (a rarity in New Zealand policing) to investigate two separate killings in South Auckland in 2019. Detectives formed a belief that they were the work of two young men on a crime spree, driving around in a Mitsubishi with rifles, shooting when they felt like it, attempting to hold up tinnie houses, generally having a great time as bad guys presiding over a reign of terror that went from April 17 to May 20 in Ōtara, Clover Park and Takanini.
![Siaosi Tulua's grieving family attended every day of the trial. Photo / Police Ten 7](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/OBZNBZGF7XSAOINP37CO2WUUMU.jpg?auth=1be3cbe1085158a3bef5a0624991c286a8c9ff99d54814d2e8b1ff8952a6dbeb&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)