Helensville homicide: Trio accused of killing Samuel Curle appear in High Court to plead not guilty

Three of the men accused of the murder of Samuel Curle, found gravely injured on a highway near Helensville last year, have pleaded not guilty to the charge at their first High Court appearance.

Five men have been charged with murder in connection with the death of Curle.

The 36-year-old was found on the Kaipara Coast Highway near Helensville in the middle of the night on November 6.

The three men who appeared in the High Court on Wednesday before Justice Matthew Downs were arrested this month, after two arrests last year.

Two of the trio appeared in the dock while the third, a teenager, appeared via video link.

They all pleaded not guilty to murder and retained interim name suppression before their next hearing, in March.

Their charges were joined to those of the two other defendants. All five are set to stand trial on September 22 next year for a five-week fixture.

Curle died in hospital after nearly three weeks in a coma, and two men were charged with murder on December 19.

On Friday, February 2, detectives from the Waitematā CIB arrested three more men in connection with the killing.

Samuel Curle, 36, was found on Auckland's Kaipara Coast Highway in the middle of the night on November 6. He died 20 days later.

Police said a man in his 60s was found at a property in Massey and arrested alongside a 17-year-old, who is also charged with murder and was set to appear in the Waitākere District Court that day.

Meanwhile, detectives travelled to Christchurch to arrest the third man, aged 31.