Beach murder accused had help, say police

The 21-year-old accused man hides his head in a policeman's lap, and (left) Anthony Stanlake. Maty Melville / Getty Images

Forensic teams worked on nine sites yesterday as police widened their investigation into the death of former fireman Anthony Stanlake.

A 21-year-old Naenae man appeared briefly in Wellington District yesterday charged with murdering Mr Stanlake by stabbing him. He entered no plea and was remanded in custody.

His lawyer, Greg King, said the man would deny the charge.

Police believe the man, whose name Judge Bruce Davidson suppressed until Sunday, did not act alone.

"We are certain that more people are involved in Tony's death," Wellington CIB chief Mike Arnerich said.

"With assistance from the public we are confident we will be able to identify [them]."

On Wednesday, police executed 10 search warrants in an investigation which now covers the whole of Wellington.

Mr Stanlake's battered body, with the hands severed and almost decapitated, was found on the southern beach at Owhiro Bay on Sunday morning. He lived in Karori, about 8km away.

Police arrested the 21-year-old accused on Taranaki St, in central Wellington, on Wednesday night.

Although he lived several kilometres away in the Hutt Valley suburb of Naenae, police said he and Mr Stanlake knew each other.

Police have found a Subaru car they had been looking for since the early days of the inquiry, in another Hutt Valley suburb, Wainuiomata.

Mr Arnerich said the house where the car was found was not that of the car's owner, and that the car was not stolen.

"Yesterday [Wednesday] was a very fast moving day," he said.

"Executing 10 search warrants at once, it was a very rapidly moving day, and I haven't experienced anything like it before. Very satisfying."

Forensic examinations were being done on three cars, Owhiro Bay, the nearby Happy Valley rubbish dump, Mr Stanlake's house, and three other houses.

"These are going to be very thorough, meticulous, and therefore slow investigations, and will take weeks to complete," Mr Arnerich said.

Police were confident they would find "some interesting items" at the rubbish dump.

The last known sighting of Mr Stanlake was on Thursday last week, when he was filmed by a security camera at a hardware store in Newtown.

Mr Arnerich said what Mr Stanlake did next was still the biggest question police needed to answer.

"Where did he go? How did he travel? Who did he meet? Who went to his home, and where is the property that he was wearing or carrying that day?"

During yesterday's court appearance, Mr King said that as the case was now before the courts, journalists should be wary of continuing to investigate Mr Stanlake's background.

Mr Stanlake was fined $10,000 in 2001 on cannabis-related charges.

Mr King said everyone was "acutely aware" of media coverage of the case, but the media should take care not to publish details which could jeopardise the case.