Cedric Maniapoto death: Whānau turn up in droves to support Waikato murder accused

Cedric Maniapoto was fatally shot and found at an address just north of Raglan early on the morning of March 5. Photo / Police

A large amount of whānau turned up in support of a Waikato man charged over the death of Cedric Maniapoto near Raglan.

The 29-year-old was granted interim name suppression by Judge Noel Cocurullo after appearing in the Hamilton District Court this afternoon.

Police launched a homicide investigation after Maniapoto’s body was found fatally shot at an Ohautira Rd property in Te Uku, west of Raglan, about 8.15am on March 5.

The accused also faces a charge of ill-treatment of an animal after a dog, named Napier, turned up with a shotgun wound at about 7am at the local store at Te Uku, seven kilometres away.

The medium-sized brown-and-white dog, which did not belong to Maniapoto, is recovering well.

Appearing on behalf of assigned counsel Jessica Tarrant, lawyer Stephen Taylor asked for the matter to be remanded without plea for two weeks.

Judge Noel Cocurullo remanded the accused in custody to reappear in the High Court at Hamilton later this month.

Yesterday, Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Patterson said police were working tirelessly to gather evidence and they were not ruling out further arrests.

Patterson said police would like to hear from anyone who saw a red-coloured 1992 Toyota Camry station wagon in the Te Mata, Te Uku, and Raglan areas on the morning of March 5.

Anyone with information is asked to call 105, or make a report online at 105.police.govt.nz, clicking “Update Report”.

The file number is 240305/1701.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and been a journalist for 20.