Haig murder saga back in court

Not only did Rex Haig's nephew pin a murder on him, he then tried to pay someone else to kill him, Haig's lawyer told the Court of Appeal yesterday.

Haig, 59, was convicted and spent a decade in prison for the 1994 murder of his crewman Mark Roderique in Jackson Bay, South Westland, on the tuna fishing boat Antares which Haig skippered.

One of the other crewmen - Haig's 18-year-old nephew David Hogan - was given $13,000 in reward money and immunity from prosecution for testifying against him.

Throughout his long incarceration, Haig maintained his innocence and despite being paroled in 2004, he yesterday revisited the Court of Appeal in a bid to have his conviction quashed.

He has already had one visit to the Court of Appeal, appealed to the United Nations, twice to the Governor-General and in 1997 held prison guards hostage in a bid to highlight his case.

Haig's lawyer, Jonathan Eaton, read from affidavits from people Hogan had spoken to after the death.

They included a man who said Hogan would have paid for the "hit" out of $3.5 million in a Swiss bank account accumulated from a paua poaching operation.

A woman who used to live with Hogan said he described throwing the body overboard. He used to have nightmares and would wake up sweating.

Another witness said Hogan talked of using a "hunk of pipe" as a weapon.

Crown lawyers Kim Hastie and Mary-Jane Thomas, who was a lawyer at Haig's original trial, are expected to make submissions today. The appeal is scheduled to last three days.

- NZPA