Gerald Joshua Waru appeared in the High Court at Hamilton on two counts of murder. Photo / Belinda Feek
A man accused of murdering two men in Hamilton can now be named.
Gerald Joshua Waru, 41, initially faced one charge of murdering Te-Pea Martin, 26, after an incident in Melville last month, and seriously injuring a second man.
However, today, the second charge - wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm - was upgraded to murder by Crown solicitor Jacinda Hamilton after the victim, Gareth Hira, died of his injuries in Waikato Hospital several days later.
Waru made a brief appearance in the High Court at Hamilton this morning, where he no longer pursued an application for name suppression.
While there were members of the victims’ families in court, the public gallery was quieter than when Waru appeared in the Hamilton District Court last month.
About 50 angry and upset whānau packed the public gallery at the last hearing, with some hurling abuse at Waru, of Hamilton, as he stood in the courtroom dock.
“Motherf***er,” one yelled. “See what you’ve done to us,” another alleged, as the judge called for calm.
But today, there was a sombre mood amongst those in court, present to hear Waru enter not guilty pleas through his lawyer, Rosalind Brown.
Justice Graham Lang noted the pleas and scheduled a three-week trial to begin on October 4, 2027.
Waru didn’t make a bail application and was remanded back into custody to reappear in the High Court in May.
The charges follow an incident on March 15 which saw emergency services called to Beatty St in the Hamilton suburb of Melville at 4.30am.
They found a man dead at the scene and launched a homicide inquiry, including asking for sightings of a black Ford Territory.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.
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