Murder accused had link to woman at house - police

Dean Browne's body was found in a New Plymouth garage. File photo / Supplied

One of the men accused of Dean Browne's murder had a "loose connection" to the woman who lived at the New Plymouth address where his body was found, trussed up and dumped in a garage.

The 38-year-old Aucklander's body was found at a Drake Street property on Friday night, but police believed he was killed elsewhere.

Palmerston North man Karl Te Angiotu Nuku, 18, and Aucklander Mikhail Rafael Pandey-Johnson, 23, are jointly charged with his murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

The pair were captured Monday near Lake Mangamahoe on State Highway 3, between New Plymouth and Inglewood, after a dramatic manhunt in which heavily-armed police stopped traffic and searched car boots.

Police are still trying to piece together where and why Mr Browne was killed, apparently by a single blow to the head.

One of the accused had a "loose connection" with the woman who lived at the address Mr Browne's body was found, Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward said.

"There's every indication that they were here Friday morning," he told the Taranaki Daily News.

The occupants, believed to be a single mother and her children, were unaware a body had been dumped in the garage, he said.

Police were focussing their investigation on the movements of a white four-door Toyota Corolla which was believed to have transported Mr Browne's body to New Plymouth.

The accused had been in Auckland, and possibly in Wellington and Rotorua, Mr Coward said.

Police had not ruled out a drug connection, although Mr Browne's death was not gang-related.

A former girlfriend said Mr Browne had been "attracted to a bad scene", while a former landlord said he was "definitely a drug user" who had set up a P lab at a property she managed.

A third man, Rhys Fournier, 22, is charged with aiding Nuku and Rafael Pandey-Johnson to avoid arrest, illegal possession of a firearm, and three drugs charges.

All three have been remanded in custody until February 4.

- NZPA