'Gruesome' murder accused named

Photo / NZ Herald

One of the three men charged with murder after the discovery of a man's body on an Otago beach last month, can now be named.

Interim name suppression for Peter Richard Holmes, 25, ran out yesterday, the Otago Daily Times reported.

Holmes and the two co-accused, a 47-year-old man and his 17-year-old son, whose identities remain suppressed, are jointly accused of murdering James Mathew Ellis, 23, on April 15.

The trio will reappear in Dunedin District Court for a pre-trial hearing on June 14.

Holmes has been remanded in custody while his co-accused are on bail with strict conditions.

Mr Ellis' body was found at Blueskin Bay Estuary, north of Dunedin, by two people out walking.

Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis earlier said a postmortem examination showed Mr Ellis had suffered "gruesome" blunt force trauma injuries to the head, hands and arms.

- NZPA