Dozens of police and paramedics rush to the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Manukau where Daniel Eliu was shot dead. Video / NZ Herald
A man accused of murdering a prominent Mongrel Mob member in front of a South Auckland church earlier this month has appeared in court amid heightened security.
Armed police were on hand outside Manukau District Court today as the 41-year-old appeared before Judge Sanjay Patel via audio-visual link.
Despite the precautions, there was no visible gang presence at the courthouse.
Two supporters of the defendant were in the courtroom as the brief hearing took place.
“I love you,” they both said to the television screen as they left court minutes later.
Judge Patel granted interim name suppression for the defendant until his next court appearance, scheduled for the High Court at Auckland in early February.
Defence lawyer Katrina Hamblin asked that he be remanded without plea in the meantime.
Police earlier said Daniel Eliu appeared to have been “deliberately targeted” as he was fatally gunned down on the morning of December 17 in front of Manukau’s Seventh Day Adventist Church on Puhinui Rd.
The 46-year-old had been attending a graduation for the Grace Foundation, a Christian-based intensive rehabilitation programme catering to those “truly on the margins of New Zealand society” who are seeking to put their criminal pasts behind them.
Mongrel Mob member Daniel Eliu was shot dead in front of a Manukau church. Photo / File
Although Eliu wasn’t graduating himself that day, he had been in the programme for about six months.
The group, which holds such events each Saturday, was waiting outside the church about 10am for a Christmas meal when the shooting occurred.
Police quietly charged the defendant earlier this week with unlawfully carrying a .22-calibre firearm on December 17, the same day as Eliu’s death, but did not announce the arrest or reveal it was related to the homicide investigation. That charge was withdrawn by prosecutors today.
Yesterday’s murder charge came one day after Eliu’s funeral and burial - which included motorcycle revving, haka, barking and chants of “Seig f***ing heil” as his casket was hoisted by patched Mongrel Mob members - had police on high alert.
There were no significant issues as a result of the South Auckland tangi, police said later in the day.
“Police continue to make inquiries to identify others involved in the fatal shooting,” Detective Inspector Tofilau Fa’amanuia Va’aelua said yesterday in a statement announcing the arrest.
Eliu has been the subject of media attention on multiple occasions prior to his death, but past coverage noted him as the accused rather than a victim.
His most notorious crime, for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison, involved a 2006 knife attack and revenge kidnapping of a man whom Eliu suspected had “narked” on a gang-affiliated friend of his - allegedly telling police about the friend’s possession of a loaded pistol.
Using a boxcutter, Eliu slashed the victim’s face from his jaw to his hairline, which the Court of Appeal would later describe as “a particularly bad crime of its kind”.
He was convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Police are continuing to ask anyone with information on the shooting to provide a tip by calling 105 or going online at www.police.govt.nz/use-105, clicking on the “Update My Report” tab and citing file number 221217/6485. Anonymous tips can be provided by calling Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
