KEY POINTS:
Police have charged a man with the murder of Waipukurau man Mark McCutcheon.
The 34-year-old father of three was fatally stabbed after going to help a woman being beaten by a patched gang member outside the Sandford Arms Hotel in Ongaonga, in central Hawke's Bay, on January 23.
Mr McCutcheon left in his car and was found dead in the vehicle, in a nearby paddock off State Highway 50 early the next morning.
A 22-year-old Waipukurau man, previously charged with assaulting Mr McCutcheon, was to appear in the Hastings District Court this morning to face the murder charge, eastern district police communications manager Kris McGehan said.
She said a 26-year-old Waipawa man had also been charged in connection with the incident and he faced a charge of assault with intent to injure.
The 26-year-old had previously been charged with assaulting a female in relation to the fight outside the Ongaonga pub on January 23 that Mr McCutcheon intervened in.
The head of the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Dave de Lange of the Hastings CIB, had previously said that while a patched Mongrel Mob member was involved in the domestic assault, the subsequent stabbing of Mr McCutcheon was not gang-related.
The man charged with Mr McCutcheon's murder was described as a gang associate.
Police were not seeking anyone else in relation to the fatal stabbing.
- NZPA
