But what happened next - an execution-style shot to the back of the head of another man who posed no threat - was simply revenge.
That was the assessment of Justice Mathew Downs today as Talagi, 26, was handed a life sentence for the murder of Sione Tuuholoaki, who was also 26 when he died in August 2023.
The hearing came two months after a High Court at Auckland jury rejected Talagi’s self-defence claims in a verdict that took only four hours - quick enough for the judge to describe it today as decisive.
“You killed Mr Tuuholoaki after the violence had ended, and because you were angry about what had happened,” Justice Downs told the defendant, adding that the “extraordinary” CCTV footage of the killing left no other conclusion.
“Everyone, it seems, had had enough, other than you.”
‘Looking for trouble’
Talagi had been enjoying a night in the city alongside his newly pregnant partner and a few others, seemingly minding his own business and joyriding around lower Queen St on an electric scooter, when a member of Tuuholoaki’s group yelled out a crude remark at his partner, witnesses said during his trial.
Tuuholoaki and four co-workers were also winding up a night of dinner and drinking around 11.30pm when the confrontation started.
Dariush Talagi has been handed a life sentence after the execution-style murder of Sione Tuuholoaki on Auckland Central's busy Queen St in August 2023. Talagi fled the scene on an electric scooter and remained on the run for over three months. Photo / Supplied
During two days in the witness box, Talagi said he had not heard the remark and was approaching the group in friendliness after he thought they called out to him. But he quickly realised the group was spoiling for a fight and, out of self-preservation, he flashed a gun that didn’t belong to him, he claimed.
His lawyers maintained the stance during today’s hearing.
“He wasn’t looking for a fight,” Jo Scott argued. “Showing the group a gun wasn’t an act of provocation - rather a warning in an effort to deter.
“... In contrast, the victim’s group was looking for trouble.”
Justice Downs, however, had a less forgiving interpretation of the evidence Talagi gave at trial - pointing to numerous parts of the defendant’s testimony that he said he simply didn’t believe.
CCTV stills entered into evidence at Dariush Talagi's High Court at Auckland murder trial show a confrontation that unfolded on Auckland's Queen St on the night of August 3, 2023. Jurors found Talagi guilty of murder and wounding with intent to cause greivous bodily injury.
“You took exception to that remark or to those remarks. You walked quickly towards the other group as they came towards you,” the judge said. “You were goading them, and they were goading you.”
Members of the group challenged him to a one-on-one fight without weapons. The footage showed that Tuuholoaki’s co-worker Jekamiah Ah-Fook, the person whose mates outed as having yelled the initial insults, threw the first punch as Talagi was turned away. Talagi was immediately thrown to the ground and pummelled by Ah-Fook and another co-worker, Jarome Alexander.
Meanwhile, Talagi’s brother-in-law, who is partially disabled due to a brain injury on the rugby field, arrived at the scene on his own scooter and was immediately punched to the ground without provocation by another member of the Tuuholoaki’s group.
While on the ground, Talagi fired his gun at Alexander, hitting him in the forearm and the gut. Jurors also found him guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm for those injuries.
CCTV stills entered into evidence at Dariush Talagi's February 2025 High Court at Auckland murder trial show a confrontation that unfolded on Queen St on August 3, 2023.
After breaking free of the melee, Talagi stood up, pulled his jacket up to conceal his face and approached Tuuholoaki, who had stood in the middle of the fray but didn’t throw any punches.
“By this stage, Mr Tuuholoaki was leaning over your brother-in-law, who was on the ground,” the judge noted. “Mr Tuuholoaki was holding him but, I stress, not hurting him.”
After firing the shot to the back of Tuuholoaki’s head, those who were with the victim scattered.
“As they did, you fired a fourth shot at them,” Justice Downs said. “It is quite clear from the footage you were hoping to hit someone, and this was not, as you claimed at trial, a warning shot. Fortunately, that shot missed everyone.”
‘Reckless bravado’
The judge also took issue with Talagi’s testimony that he was initially frightened of the group and that he thought the gun was actually a harmless and unloaded starter pistol.
“I am sure you knew it was a pistol, and I am sure you knew it was loaded,” the judge said. “Your behaviour throughout made that abundantly plain.
“Indeed, that you had a loaded pistol on you prompted you to behave as you did — with reckless bravado. So, while it is correct the other group inflicted violence upon you, you acted to provoke that violence, treating the gun as your insurance policy."
CCTV stills entered into evidence at Dariush Talagi's February 2025 High Court at Auckland murder trial. Jurors found Talagi guilty of murder and wounding with intent to cause greivous bodily injury.
Talagi had also claimed at trial that he had no memory of the shooting, reckoning that he must have shot Tuuholoaki by accident.
“I have no doubt you knew that what you had done was deliberate,” the judge replied today. “No one watching the footage could reach any other conclusion. It is, frankly, quite extraordinary. It shows your angry taking of another’s life on Auckland’s main street because of violence inflicted on you.”
It’s notable, the judge said, that the defendant then fled the scene on an electric scooter without checking on the welfare of his brother-in-law - remaining on the run for the next 105 days. It belied defence lawyers’ argument that their client had shot Tuuholoaki to protect his brother-in-law.
Belated remorse
Murder generally carries a mandatory life sentence with a minimum period of imprisonment of at least 10 years before a prisoner can start to apply for parole. Justice Downs emphasised to those in the packed courtroom gallery today that most murder convicts remain in jail well past the minimum period.
Talagi’s lawyers asked the judge to impose a minimum period of 10 years while Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock suggested a starting point of about 16 years before allowing limited deductions for any mitigating features.
It was a wide gap between the two suggested sentences, the judge noted.
He allowed a starting point of 12 years, taking into account three aggravating factors: the use of a gun, the execution-style manner of the shooting and the fact he fired a fourth time, missing his target but putting bystanders at risk. The starting point, he added, “would have been higher but for the violence on you, which clearly influenced your murderous decision”.
CCTV stills show a confrontation that unfolded on Auckland Central's Queen St. Jurors found Talagi guilty of murder and wounding with intent to cause greivous bodily injury.
Justice Downs then uplifted the sentence by one year to account for the wounding charge, denying the Crown’s suggestion of three years. While there was an element of defence to the non-fatal shooting, it was “grossly disproportionate”, he explained.
One year was then deducted for Talagi’s difficult upbringing and his relative youth at the time. The judge noted that his father was largely absent and his mother battled “depression and other difficulties”.
“You ran away from home at a young age and spent time on the streets. You were exposed to drugs, violence and drifted into stealing cars,” the judge said, noting that none of Talagi’s previous convictions were relevant to the sentencing decision.
The judge did not allow a reduction for remorse despite letters that Talagi wrote to Tuuholoaki’s family and to Alexander.
“Remorse was not apparent from your evidence at trial or your trial stance more generally,” he explained. “So, while it is possible you are now remorseful, I am unable to place any real weight upon this factor given its belatedness ...”
The calculations resulted in a minimum period of imprisonment of 12 years.
‘A suffocating hell’
The families of the two men whom Talagi shot continue to suffer as a result of the incident, the judge was told at the start of today’s hearing.
Alexander had recently been promoted to a supervisor role just weeks before going out with his co-workers, but he lost his job due to the injuries he suffered, his partner and mother said in victim impact statements that were read aloud by the Crown.
Electric scooters abandoned on lower Queen St following a shooting incident at 11.30pm on August 3, 2023. Photo / Hayden Woodward
He lost his gallbladder and continues to have a bullet lodged in his back, his partner said, describing his prior promotion while still in his early 20s as “the pure definition of hard work that pays off”.
He now suffers panic attacks and avoids the City Centre or any place where there will be a lot of people, she said.
Alexander’s mother said she forgave Talagi. He might not deserve it, she said, but she didn’t want her family to continue to hurt.
Tuuholoaki’s sister, meanwhile, said she will be haunted for the rest of her life by the footage of her brother’s final moments that she and jurors watched repeatedly during the trial.
Sione Tuuholoaki was shot to death on Queen St in Auckland's city centre in August 2023. Photo / Supplied
“My spirit feels broken most days, and I have consistent nightmares of that footage,” she said. “It sounds theatrical, but that is the reality ...
“I just can’t stop crying. My heart has a hole in it.”
Her brother sometimes came off as confident and cocky, but in reality he was “a big softie”, she told the court.
Tuuholoaki’s partner described the fear she felt for months after his death, going to sleep each night with the lights on and a knife under her pillow.
“Every day has been a suffocating hell,” she said.
“I still cry myself to sleep every night, as the bed feels cold and empty where he once lay next to me.”
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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