KEY POINTS:
Two of four men who were jointly charged with murdering Rotorua man Hemi Hohepa have had the charges against them dropped.
At the end of a depositions hearing in the Youth Court in Rotorua this week, Judge Ian Thomas discharged a 17-year-old and a 20-year-old, saying there was not enough evidence for them to go on trial for the murder of Mr Hohepa. Two others aged 21 and 29, also charged with murder, were committed for trial. They were remanded in custody to appear in the High Court at Rotorua on June 12 for a trial date to be set. The identities of all four men are suppressed.
Mr Hohepa, 27, was found dead on private land bordering Whakarewarewa Forest near Scion on October 20 last year with a single stab wound to the abdomen.
