Four people appear in Levin District Court in relation to alleged murder of Mongrel Mob member Dean Kahukiwa

Dean Kahukiwa's body was found after a house fire in Foxton.

“He didn’t do nothing to you, he was only little,” one woman yelled at a man accused of murdering Dean Kahukiwa during a heated court appearance this afternoon.

The Levin District Court was packed with Kahukiwa’s whānau and friends as four people made their first appearance since being charged in relation to his death. They have all been granted interim name suppression.

A 47-year-old man faced the lead charge of murder, while two women, aged 28 and 37, were accused of procuring Kahukiwa’s murder, and a third woman, 30, was charged with arson.

The arson accused glared at Kahukiwa’s loved ones from the dock.

“Let’s f**king go,” she said. “False accusations, I don’t want to be here.”

The 28-year-old woman cried as she stood in the dock while the victim’s family either yelled or muttered comments at her.

“I can’t even look at her,” one of his whānau said from the public gallery.

“Face us,” another one said.

There were eight police officers and at least four court security officers inside the courtroom, who repeatedly had to order quiet in the public gallery.

The man charged with murder is also accused of participating in an organised criminal group and attempting to destroy the evidence of a homicide.

No pleas were entered by the four defendants, who were all remanded into custody ahead of their next appearances in the High Court at Palmerston North this month.

Dean Kahukiwa, 32, was allegedly murdered.

The body of Kahukiwa, a 32-year-old Mongrel Mob member, was discovered after a house fire on Reeve St in Foxton in the early hours of September 27.

Firefighters were called to battle the blaze and he was found dead inside.

Police have not confirmed how long he is believed to have been dead before the fire.

According to the court documents, the alleged murder was committed with a firearm.

Yesterday, police arrested five people in connection to his death after executing search warrants across Palmerston North and Shannon.

The fifth person arrested, a woman, will appear in court at a later date.

A whānau member earlier told the Herald Kahukiwa was “an out-there person” who “loved his kids, loved everybody”.

“He was a ... damn, Deanie, he was a fun guy to be around. He was like the joker of the party ... it’s actually quite hard just knowing that he’s actually gone. Bit of a bummer for our Wellington lot ... and for this to happen, I don’t believe this was what they say it was. He was murdered.”

She said he has several young kids, and that he was an “awesome cousin”.

Kahukiwa’s funeral was held in Petone, Lower Hutt, in October.

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.