Family seek answers over Stephen George's death

The scene of the house fire in which a body was found, believed to be that of Stephen George. Picture / Amos Chapple

The family of a farm worker who police believe was murdered in a house fire have decided to delay funeral arrangements until they are certain of his death.

Lindsey George, mother of 35-year-old Stephen George, told the Herald on Sunday yesterday the family was still holding out a glimmer of hope the remains of a body found in a Tirohanga farmhouse last week were not her son. "We have that 1 per cent hope that it is not him. That is the little blockage that is keeping me sane," she said.

Although dental records have failed to identify the body found in the house as Mr George, police say they are reasonably certain it was him. But they will have to wait two weeks for a DNA sample to be processed to formally identify the body.

In the meantime, they are appealing for sightings of either Mr George, his 1993 silver Nissan Primera, or anyone who may have been with him in the area between his family home in Te Awamutu and Taupo last Sunday.

His father, Roger George, said his son usually drove from Te Awamutu via Mangakino, across the Whakamaru Dam, and then used a forestry road to reach the farm where he worked on Paerata Rd, near Mokai, about 35kms north of Taupo.

He said Stephen was a good-natured, friendly and generous guy, who had picked up hitchhikers in the past.

Although Mr George lived alone at the farm while working, he was regularly joined by his wife and their four children, or travelled to their family home, next to his parents in Te Awamutu. His mother said the kids loved to go to the farm and they had just spent the first week of the school holidays with him.

"His family was very important to him. If you saw him with those kids, he was marvellous."

His wife Leone stayed on in Te Awamutu when Mr George started farming so the children would have access to good schooling and extra-curricular activities, she said.

Leone George is devastated by the tragedy and wants answers to her husband's death. "Someone out there knows what happened and it will be closure for us, but it doesn't help the pain. It doesn't bring him back, and it doesn't create my children another father."

She said she had searched her mind desperately for any clue that might point to what had happened.

"It is an absolute mystery. Someone can shed some light on this and bring us some closure of some sort."

Locals in the small farming community of Tirohanga said yesterday they were stunned to learn of the police investigation. "It was a bit of a shock to the system," said one neighbour. "Things like that happen somewhere else, not around here."

The neighbour said he had gained the impression from others that Mr George and some of his mates were "a bit suspicious".

"He was rough and very rough-speaking ... but he seemed okay."

"We didn't know if there was foul play or anything ... the community's quite shocked," said another.

At the property, farm owner Alma Aspin was yesterday loading what was left of Mr George's things - a motorbike, a few fishing rods - on to a trailer. She and husband Brian were not prepared to comment.

But others said that a homicide in their own area was just too close for comfort. "We can't get it off our minds," said the man who first saw the fire. "The sooner they catch somebody for it, the better."

Detective Sue Douglas of Taupo said a burned-out car discovered 4km from Mangakino on Thursday had been confirmed as Mr George's. It was known to have been in Te Awamutu on the night of October 8 but how Mr George returned to Tirohanga and how the car had wound up near Mangakino was unknown, she said.

"We don't know whether he went there with someone, whether the car ever went to the house.

"It's a complete mystery to us and there's a lot of scenarios..."

Those included the possibility that Mr George might have picked up a hitch-hiker, although police were not specifically looking for one at present.

The case was being treated as a homicide because of the circumstances and because the cause of the fire and the death were unknown, Ms Douglas said.

Because of the severity of the fire, police do not know if anything else is missing from the property.

Two farm bikes and a ute remained at the property, and a quad bike was found burned down to its steel frame in a side shed.

Police urge anyone with any information to call 0800 782 709.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY