Inside the flat of taxi murder suspect

A former flatmate of the man suspected of killing taxi driver Hiren Mohini talks in the flat they shared. Photo / Steven McNicholl

The man suspected of killing an Auckland taxi driver told his flatmates in the days following the murder that a badly injured leg was caused by a game of basketball.

One female resident told the Herald he had to use a stool to walk around the modest high-rise unit afterwards and was in obvious pain.

"He said he had been poked by a nail or stone [playing basketball]," she said, pointing to her left knee. "He seemed very hurt and couldn't move."

The woman asked if he needed to see a doctor and he refused, saying "It's okay. I just need some painkillers".

She was "shocked" when, more than two weeks later, she first heard her flatmate was suspected of fatally stabbing Auckland Co-Op driver Hiren Mohini, 39, on View Rd in Mt Eden on January 31.

"He was always happy, always joking," she said.

Another male flatmate described him as "very proper, very quiet". Both said he mainly kept to himself and played video games.

Police have successfully applied to the courts for an order suppressing the publication of all details that might lead to the identification of the man.

Officers recovered a knife in the days following the killing, which the head investigator described as a "vicious" and "frenzied" attack, and canvassed hospitals for people with fitting injuries.

A friend of Mr Mohini told the Herald the taxi driver's hands were bandaged in the funeral parlour, as if he had struggled with his attacker.

Police did not come knocking at the apartment until February 19, his female flatmate said. She and the two other residents were put up in a hotel so officers could fingerprint and forensically test the unit.

The man had told the trio he was travelling to China to visit his sick grandfather and flew out on February 5.

"He bought a one-way ticket," she said.

The man borrowed her cellphone to text his friend to pick him up and another flatmate helped him carry his belongings downstairs. He spent his last night in New Zealand at a friend's place.

Before leaving he paid the female flatmate back the $280 he had borrowed for rent.

Money had always been tight and he had gambled away one week's wages at the casino, she said. The woman understood her flatmate had got part-way through a tertiary course and had taken whatever work he could from then on.

The topic of the taxi driver murder had never come up at home, she said, but she had seen CCTV footage images of the man police wanted to speak to plastered around town.

She thought it only looked "50 or 60 per cent similar" to her flatmate.

In the weeks before her flatmate left the country he was very withdrawn.

"He seemed particularly quiet.... He kept the door closed and locked himself in."

Yesterday the man's bedroom door was locked, as police had left it. Fingerprints darkened by police forensic solution could be seen on the right-hand side above the handle. A white arrow was stuck on the wood pointing to the prints.

Several metres down the narrow hall, on the wall of the tiny lounge, several mosquitoes squashed on the wall had been circled by green marker. The living area, which doubled as a kitchen, overflowed with stacks of boxes and bags.

A dirty wok was perched on the bench, full of water, among other used dishes. A white label saying "Do Not Touch" sat under the microwave.

Flatmates said the only remaining belongings of their former flatmate were an industrial sized roll of food wrap on a shelf above the bench and an assortment of oils, spices, stock and pickles on "his shelf" next to the fridge.

Behind his locked bedroom door used to sit a single bed and desk with two computers on top, they said.

THE CASE

January 31: Taxi driver Hiren Mohini stabbed to death in Mt Eden.
Days following: Suspect tells flatmates leg injured playing basketball.
February 4: Suspect moves out of apartment.
February 5: Suspect flies to China.
February 19: Police visit apartment and conduct forensic testing.
February 27: Police confirm they know identity of chief suspect.

- Additional reporting Lincoln Tan