Family of slain Kiwi tourist Nick Heyward: 'A big, black hole in our hearts'

Nick Heyward was shot four dead while travelling in Argentina.

A year after Nick Heyward was shot in Argentina his family still wait for justice.

Family of slain New Zealand tourist Nick Heyward have spoken of the "hole in their hearts" a year after his death in South America.

Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the 31-year-old's death in Mendoza, Argentina, after two men on a motorbike allegedly attempted to steal his backpack and shot him four times in broad daylight.

Two men, aged 34 and 20, have been charged with murder. And as they await trial later this year, Nick's father, Ben Heyward, said the past year had been heart-breaking.

"It's a hard week, and a strange week. There remains a big, black hole in all of our hearts. We are all still deeply grieving," Heyward told the Herald on Sunday from Papua New Guinea, where he is doing community work.

"Every now and again someone will ask you a question, or a picture of his face will pop up somewhere, and it stops me in my tracks. Before I know it, my mind goes off and I'm thinking about Nick, and I realise he's not here.

"I made this big plan for our future, expecting him to get married soon and [have a family]. I feel cheated. Where's my Nick?"

For Nick's brother, Stefan, who will hold a memorial evening for friends and family at his Australian home next week, the situation is just as raw.

"It's been a hard year. It's hard to come home when Nick isn't here and you know you're not going to share any good times ever again," he said from Queensland. "What I do have to hold on to are the memories of our childhood together, running around, playing sport. They were some of the best times of my life."

The Heyward family remains hopeful that those responsible for Nick's death will be held to account.

Ben Heyward said there was "a desire to see justice done". But Stefan said it was unlikely the family would travel to Argentina for the trial.

"We all expect our children to bury us. In the end, you have to live with the fact that it's happened, that's the way of the world," Ben said.

"But I will always remember a mature cheekiness in Nick, ever since he was a little boy, and his relationship with his grandfather. We all saw a special spark between Nick and his mum's father. The similarities between them — from their looks to their humour — were clear very early.

"There's a wonderful old family photograph of us all gathered in New Zealand, with Nick parked on the arm of his grandfather's chair, smack-bang in the middle of the picture — which is exactly his rightful place."