The backyard at the Wharerau house in Stokes Valley where a 50th birthday party was held in December 2023, during which Rawiri Wharerau was killed and Hemi Wharerau was injured. Today a man was found guilty of Rawiri's manslaughter.
A man has been found guilty of manslaughter, but cleared of murder, following a fatal shooting at 50th birthday party in Stokes Valley.
His partner was cleared by a jury in the High Court at Wellington of all but one of the charges she faced.
The case centred around a surprise 50th birthday party at a Stokes Valley address in December 2023.
Rawiri Zane Wharerau, a patched member of Mangu Kaha – a gang associated with Black Power – lived at the house with his younger brother, Hemi Wharerau.
The party was for their cousin Robert Huaki Sr, a patched member of Black Power.
During the evening, Rawiri was fatally shot and killed and Hemi was also shot and badly injured.
A couple who attended the party, but have name suppression, denied charges of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, and discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The woman also denied a charge of assault with a weapon.
After 16 hours of deliberations, a jury of 11 delivered their verdicts today, finding the man guilty of manslaughter and discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but not guilty of murder and attempted murder. The woman was found guilty of assault with a weapon.
Today’s verdicts follow a lengthy trial which is now in its sixth week, with evidence from more than 60 Crown witnesses including partygoers, police, and ESR experts.
Three witnesses gave evidence for the defence including the two defendants.
The Crown case alleged the couple left the party after an argument between them and Huaki Sr. They returned with a gun and fought with partygoers on the street, before leaving and returning a final time - firing several shots that killed Rawiri and wounded Hemi.
Defence lawyers claimed the injuries weren’t intentional. They said the couple returned to the party that final time to return the gun and collect $2000, which had fallen out of the man’s bum bag earlier in the night. The defence said the man fired the fatal shots after partygoers advanced on them.
Lawyers representing the man said Rawiri was not only his friend, but a fellow gang member and he would never have intentionally shot him. The woman’s lawyers said she didn’t foresee how events would unfold that night and never fired the fatal shots or told her partner to do so.
The verdicts were delivered to a silent and virtually empty courtroom. Due to safety concerns, only two representatives from the Wharerau family were seated in court to hear the verdict.
Family members of the defendants and victims watched from separate courtrooms or listened to the verdicts by audio link.
Four court security officers stood inside the main courtroom, while another six were stationed in two other courtrooms within the High Court. Three police officers stood inside the courthouse while two others stood outside.
It’s understood members of the Wharerau family who were seated in another courtroom were upset at the verdicts, with some yelling expletives as they were read out.
Justice Dale La Hood convicted the man and remanded him in custody before his sentencing in June.
The woman was remanded on bail and will also be sentenced in June. Justice La Hood also ordered a continuation of the couple’s name suppression.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.
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