'Give yourself up' call to man wanted over girl's death

Nathan Fenton and Mairina Dunn

The family of a murdered Whangarei teenager have a message for Black Power member Nathan Fenton: "Be a man, give yourself up."

Mairina Dunn, 17, was found dead at a weatherboard house in Otangarei on Sunday afternoon.

An autopsy is due to be completed in Auckland today but the Herald understands the young woman was beaten to death with a weapon.

Mairina died in the early hours of Sunday morning, but despite a number of people having been at the house around that time, police said nobody was "in a position" to phone 111 until after midday.

Officers yesterday named Fenton - a 31-year-old patched gang member described as armed and dangerous - as a person of interest in the homicide inquiry and warned people not to approach him.

He was still on the run at lunchtime today.

Speaking to the Herald last night, Mairina's family said they warned her about Fenton, saying he was dangerous and had not treated previous girlfriends well. "We had heard he was heaps of trouble and stories about him and tried to warn her. She didn't listen," said Mairina's mother, Queenie Dunn.

"I even warned him, saying, 'Don't hurt my daughter'. He said, 'Yo'."

Ms Dunn said Mairina was headstrong and thought she would be OK with Fenton. She spent the past few weeks staying with him at the Holmes Ave house where her body was found and with other friends and family.

The teen had left school and found herself in a bit of trouble after the death of her grandmother, which she was struggling to deal with.

In April she was sent to a six-week military camp in Christchurch for some tough love.

"During her first week the corporal told me she was a bit of a staunch one and didn't want to participate," said Ms Dunn.

By the end of the course Mairina had come a long way. "The corporal commented that every week she went from strength to strength. I didn't think she would stick it out but she did."

When Mairina returned to Whangarei she was getting up at 5 each morning - as she had done at camp - and considering a future in the Army.

About three weeks ago she met Fenton through friends and ignored her family's pleas to stay away from him.

Detective Senior Sergeant Marty Ruth said Fenton and Mairina had been together for a couple of weeks and living in Holmes Ave with three other females.

It is understood several people had been coming and going from the house on Saturday night and some of them may have witnessed what happened.

* Anyone with information about Fenton's whereabouts is asked to contact Whangarei police or the nearest police station.

- Additional reporting: NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)