Mother says son died protecting wife

Nickie-Jean and Tiki Hunia were on holiday in the Caribbean after renewing their wedding vows in Las Vegas.

A New Zealand man shot in Jamaica died protecting his wife after she was pistol-whipped by an armed robber, his mother says.

Tiki Hunia, 27, and Nickie-Jean Hunia, who live in Hong Kong, were approached by a gunman in the yard of the guest house in which they were holidaying on Upper Montrose Rd - an expensive area known as the "Golden Triangle" in the Kingston suburb of St Andrew.

Gloria Hunia, mother of the slain man, said the couple had recently renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas and were on a second honeymoon.

The pair were sitting in the outdoor area of their guest house in the suburb of St Andrew, in Kingston.

Two men ran through the crowd, and one tried to grab a mobile phone out of her daughter-in-law's hand.

She struggled with the man, so he hit her on the head with the butt of his pistol, Mrs Hunia told Radio New Zealand.

"That just set my son off, of course. He jumped on him (the robber), started wrestling with him. My daughter-in-law ran into the lobby to get help.

"She heard the two gunshots when she was in there. When she came back, my son was lying on the ground," Mrs Hunia said.

"She thought he was ok - the gunshot had gone in through his arm, but it had actually gone into the side of his chest and had pierced his lung."

Radio Jamaica said Mr Hunia died in hospital. Mrs Hunia was not harmed.

Yesterday detectives interviewed the owner of the guest house and all the people present during the robbery, the Jamaica Observer reported.

A watchman at the premises was also interrogated.

"Several top-ranked officers spent much of yesterday in a meeting as they tried to ascertain the identities of the two robbers," the newspaper said.

Jamaica Constabulary Force spokesman Karl Angell said the police had interviewed 12 people over the murder.

He said a post-mortem examination of Mr Hunia would take place tomorrow.

A family member at the home of Mr Hunia's grandparents in the Bay of Plenty town of Te Teko, where he grew up, told the Herald: "Everybody's still in shock and his wife is over there by herself ... We do not have any details. The British embassy is talking with our lot over here."

It is understood the family are planning to fly Mr Hunia's mother and mother-in-law to Jamaica.

Mr Hunia worked as an information technology consultant, and is believed to have moved to Hong Kong in April 2006.

His wife, who is from Te Puke, teaches at the Carmel School, in the Mid-levels area on Hong Kong Island. The couple's home is in Sheung Wan, to the northwest of the area.

Mr Hunia left Kawerau College in 1999 and he and his wife were at Waikato University from 2000 to 2003.

His page on the social networking site Bebo paints a picture of a fun-loving, caring, well-travelled man.

His interests included playing guitar and "mucking around" on his laptop in his spare time.

He left several messages on family members' pages saying he missed them.

One asked his sister what his niece and nephew's shoe sizes were so he could send presents to New Zealand.

His wife's page says the couple were planning to be "at home in the Bay for Christmas".

Blog sites detail their travels around Hong Kong, Japan and through South Korea.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman Emma Reilly said the ministry was supporting members of the Hunia family in New Zealand and Jamaica.

It was in contact with the British High Commission in Jamaica, which was arranging for the return of the body to New Zealand.

"Mr Hunia's death has been noted at the highest level by the Jamaican Government. A police investigation is under way but no arrests have been made."

It is believed the family want to bring the body home to Mr Hunia's Ngati Awa marae, Kokohinau.

Last year, more than 1600 people were murdered in Jamaica, which has a population of about 2.8 million, and there have been more than 600 murders this year.

- With NZPA