Kathleen Kawana’s partner Ri Nikora named as man charged with her murder

Kathleen Kawana, photographed in 2005. Photo / NZME

Kathleen Kawana’s partner Ri Nikora can now be named as the man accused of murdering her in 2019.

Nikora’s interim name suppression was not renewed when he appeared in the High Court at Napier on Friday.

Ri Charles Raymond Nikora, 47, a process worker, has been charged with murdering Kawana at Hastings between June 20 and June 22, 2019.

He also faces two charges of injuring her with intent to injure.

Kawana went missing from her home in Tītahi Bay, Porirua in June 2019.

Her body was found on August 3 that year on a property at Ngarimu Hill, near Ruatōria, by the people who had just bought it.

The suggestion that Kawana met her death in Hastings became public when Nikora’s charge sheets were filed in the Hastings District Court on May 13.

The journey from Hastings to Ruatōria is almost 360km, and takes more than five hours to drive.

Nikora appeared in court on Friday via an audio-visual link from prison.

He was remanded in custody without plea for a case review hearing on August 9.

Three weeks have been set aside for a trial in September 2025.

A member of Kanawa’s whānau took to social media after Nikora was arrested, thanking everyone who had “unconditionally” supported the family since her disappearance and death.

“My heart still aches for you every second of every day,” the post said.

On the day of her tangi, Kawana’s uncle remembered her as a “happy-go-lucky, bubbly child” who grew into a “typical” mother “bringing her kiddies up”.

Kawana grew up in Flaxmere, Hastings and went to school at Irongate Primary, Flaxmere Intermediate and Karamu High School.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.