Richardson’s Bar and Restaurant homicide: Christopher Salt pleads not guilty to murdering Tofimua Matagi

A man accused of a fatal assault at a Mt Roskill bar, resulting in the death of a 26-year-old fellow customer who had been there on an outing with workmates, has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Christopher Tean Salt, 35, appeared in the High Court at Auckland for the first time today for the murder charge. He has not previously been named.

Salt smiled to supporters seated directly behind the dock as the short hearing concluded, shouting “Love you!” from an adjoining hallway as he was led by security back to a holding cell.

Also in the courtroom was a large group of family members of Tofimua Oneonepata Matagi, who died early on September 1.

Emergency responders found Matagi, 25, unresponsive at Richardson’s Bar and Restaurant at 12.54am. He died at the scene and Salt was arrested two days later.

Matagi’s family have described him to the Herald previously as a former mechanic who was friendly, kind, valuing friendships and always looking out for the underdog.

Tofimua Matagi, 25, died at a bar and restaurant in Mt Roskill, Auckland, on September 1.

He had moved back to New Zealand in June, moving in with his siblings and his grandmother, after weathering the Covid-19 pandemic in Niue. He had just found a new job and was planning to start a mechanic internship next year, said his father, Reverend Dr Matagi Vilitama, who lives in Australia.

More than 1000 people attended his funeral last month in Auckland.

Justice Mark Woolford set Salt’s trial date for November next year.

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.