Twenty-two years after he was jailed for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett, the Privy Council quashed the convictions of Teina Pora. Photo / Nick Reed
Twenty-two years after he was jailed for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett, the Privy Council quashed the convictions of Teina Pora. Photo / Nick Reed
The Herald has reported much of the crime that has taken place across the country but some stories have piqued your interest more than others.
By the end of October this year, more than 220,000 New Zealanders had become victims of crime. According to police statistics, there had been 45 murders, 7,680 assaults, 54,111 burglaries and break ins and 122,175 thefts reported. The Herald has reported much of the crime that has taken place across the country but some stories have piqued your interest more than others.
There were the bedroom murders, where two lovers were shot in cold blood. The fatal shooting of Slovakian national David Cerven captured the nation's attention while the freedom of Teina Pora marked the end of a huge legal battle. The homeless man who had to be carried to hospital upset the country, while the Stop-go murder culminated in an arrest after two years.
Read and watch the stories that interested you most over 2015.
In August 2013, lovers Glenys Stanton and Trevor Waite were gunned down at his Opaheke home by her jealous ex-boyfriend John Mowatt. He then lead police on a manhunt across Auckland before turning his firearm on himself in Woodhill Forest.
Earlier this month, Coroner Katharine Greig released her findings - a detailed 25-page report - which outlined how and why the shocking crime happened.
Police and emergency services at the scene on Ponga Road in Opaheke, near Papakura. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Mr Waite and Ms Stanton had met on a networking website and had been seeing each other on and off since March 2013. Ms Stanton had also been seeing Mowatt, who she met in April on a dating website. However days before the double murder, she had ended things with him.
On Friday 23 August, Mr Waite and Ms Stanton drank wine together at his Ponga Rd home and went to bed. Mowatt then shot his way through a ranch-slider into the master bedroom and murdered the lovers.
Glenys Stanton, left, and Trevor Waite, right, died when gunned down in bed at Mr Waite's home. Photos / Supplied
He fired 29 rounds in total. Mr Waite and Ms Stanton were both hit by eight bullets each. They died from wounds to the neck and chest and were found on the Sunday morning by Mr Waite's daughter Kelsey, who had stayed at the house the night before, after attending a party in the area. She had no idea the bodies lay in a bedroom just up the hallway from her own.
After Kelsey, then 18, made the grisly discovery, police launched a homicide investigation and their focus quickly turned to Mowatt.
Mowatt knew they were on to him, and days after he gunned down the lovers - and as armed police closed in on his hiding place in the forest - he shot himself in the head. Following his death, police found a cache of firearms belonging to Mowatt, described by his son as a "gun nut" in various places.
The sound of gunshots pierced a quiet Sunday night in Auckland's CBD. A man had been fatally shot by police in Myers Park.
Hours earlier, police had appealed for sightings of David Cerven, a Slovakian national living in Auckland. They believed he was behind a spate of armed robberies over several days and wanted to track him down.
At 7.23pm, Cerven called 111 and said he was in the park and wanted to speak to police. Several officers were dispatched and Cerven told them he was armed.
They retreated, called for back up and at 7.30pm two armed cops arrived at the park, 400m from the Auckland Central police station. They approached him and Cerven responded by advancing on them.
Police at the scene of a cordon on Mayoral Drive overlooking Myers Park in Auckland's CBD. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Believing he had a firearm, they shot him.
Cerven's death is still the subject of a number of investigations, including one by the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
Police have released little information about the fatal incident as investigations are ongoing, but said the officers involved were "about 10 to 20 metres away from him and right in the line of fire ... they have both assessed the situation as an immediate fatal threat and discharged their weapons around the same time".
The entire episode was recorded on CCTV cameras in the park.
Twenty-two years after he was jailed for the rape and murder of Auckland woman Susan Burdett, the Privy Council quashed the convictions of Teina Pora.
Mr Pora was first convicted in 1994 of Ms Burdett's rape and murder on the basis of his confessions. In 1996, DNA from semen at the scene linked the attack to Malcolm Rewa, a serial rapist with a modus operandi of offending alone. Rewa was eventually convicted of the rape of 27 women, including Ms Burdett, but two juries could not reach a verdict regarding murder.
Mr Pora was again convicted of rape and murder at a retrial in 2000 and his appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed.
Teina Pora gets a hug from Winnie Retimana and his grandson Benson after the Privy Council verdict. Photo / Dean Purcell
Last November, the Privy Council spent two days hearing fresh evidence in London. In March they delivered their ruling: Mr Pora's convictions were quashed and he was a free man.
Police later confirmed they would not seek a retrial, nor would they reopen the investigation into Ms Burdett's murder.
In an interview with the Herald Mr Pora spoke about the moment he heard that news. "I stopped the car; just me and my dog. It would probably be the first ever time, tears just running from my eyes man," he said.
"I went to the beach, Mission Bay, and just let everything wash out of the soles of my feet. Life began for me then."
Auckland college stabbing
Leaving her controlling husband was supposed to be the start of Parmita Rani's new life. Instead, the 22-year-old died for her decision.
On May 22, Ms Rani had just finished an exam at the AWI International Education Group building on Queen St and was leaving the building with her friend Parminder Sandhu.
Her estranged husband Mandeep Singh, who had earlier purchased knives, was waiting for her in the foyer of the college.
As soon as she walked out, he stabbed her to death. Mr Sandhu, who Singh believed was having an affair with his wife, wrestled the knife from from Singh and rushed over to Ms Rani, who was bleeding to death from a wound that had severed an artery, a vein and her airway.
Parmita Rani was stabbed to death by her husband Mandeep Singh at the International Education Group School in Auckland. Photo / Supplied
As Mr Sandhu tried to help the woman, Singh pulled another knife out and viciously attacked him. The knife wound punctured his lung, and had it not been for a bystander jumping in to restrain Singh, Mr Sandhu would likely have been killed.
Ms Rani died at the scene and Singh was charged with murder soon after.
In October, Singh pleaded guilty and also admitted a charge of attempting to murder Mr Sandhu. He was jailed for life with a minimum of 13 years before the chance of parole.
A pre-sentence report called Singh "highly protective and controlling of Ms Rani's movements and associations with others".
"Longtime streetie" Teina Wharawhara had to be carried to Auckland City Hospital by his friends after he was attacked in nearby Outhwaite Park on November 11.
One friend tried to get help after Mr Wharawhara was attacked, running 500m to the hospital's emergency department.
Police were alerted almost immediately and an ambulance called, but after 35 minutes it still had not arrived and Mr Wharawhara's frantic mates carried him to help.
Mr Wharawhara was pronounced dead soon after he arrived at the emergency department.
Forensics look over Outhwaite Park after a homeless man was killed in an attack. Photo / Greg Bowker
It later emerged that an ambulance had been deployed, but then stood down by police.
Police have charged a man with assault and manslaughter following the death and an investigation into the incident and the response is ongoing.
At the time, Auckland City Missioner Diane Robinson said it was a sad situation that highlighted the risks facing the homeless.
"It's sad that something happened and a person called for help and he was not heard. Homeless people are a very vulnerable group. They are out in anti-social hours and are more likely to be attacked or to be hurt."
Two years ago, George Taiaroa was fatally shot while working as a traffic controller at road works north of Taupo.
Soon after, police identified a suspect, but it would take two years of methodical police work to make the arrest.
That day finally came in November, when 45-year-old Quinton Winders was charged with murder.
After the arrest, Detective Superintendent Tim Anderson said the passing of time had not lowered the resolve of the police to find Mr Taiaroa's killer.
George Taiaroa was shot and killed near Kinleith in 2013. Photo / Supplied
"The professionalism and commitment of the team investigating Mr Taiaroa's death has not wavered for a second, and it is their determination and attention to detail that has got us to this point."
Mr Taiaroa's widow Dr Helen Taiaroa spoke to the Herald a year after his death.
"He was so proud of his children. He ensured they got a decent education so they can better themselves. He knew what it was like to work physically hard and there is a better way in life to do things," she said.
The 67-year-old loved his job, Dr Taiaroa said. "He loved the financial independence - there was more fishing gear to buy, more overseas trips to plan. He said ... 'If anything happens to me I'm going to die happy because I've done a lot of things in my life'."
Winders was publicly named by police as a person of interest soon after the murder.
Just after 8pm on December 6, traffic was brought to a standstill on Auckland's Harbour Bridge after a silver BMW, being pursued by police, drove across three lanes and collided with another northbound car. Eight people were injured but the driver could have hurt many more - six people had called police to complain about the BMW in the minutes before the crash. The driver was arrested and eight people were taken to the hospital - two with moderate injuries and six with minor injuries - following the crash, which caused massive tailbacks on the arterial route.
An alleged shoplifter trying to flee Auckland's Sylvia Park mall with $40,000 worth of jewellery turned on a person trying to stop him, hitting him in the face with a hammer.
On May 26, shop workers from rival stores launched into a dramatic chase through the popular shopping mall, after the alleged thief. As one man chased him the alleged thief struck him in the face with a hammer, leaving him needing dozens of stitches.
A man is believed to have used a device to override keyless car technology and steal a $165,000 Jaguar in 60 seconds - in broad daylight. The luxury car was pinched from Beacham Independent Jaguar and Range Rover dealership in Penrose, Auckland in October. CCTV footage showed a man, who the car retailers believe is behind the high-tech heist, walking on to the car lot at 2.55pm with his hand in his pocket, before somehow unlocking the car and driving off.
Waiuku man Lance Murphy was last seen leaving a Warkworth petrol station in late November. Five days later, his car was found with his blood inside. Police appealed for information, and were seeking sightings of Steven Gunbie, who lived at the address where the car was found. They believed he was connected to whatever had happened to Mr Murphy. On December 14, they announced they had found the 57-year-old's body and a man had been arrested and charged with murder. Two days later, Gunbie was arrested after a raid on a Waihi property and charged with kidnapping. Further charges have not been ruled out.
