Murder charges laid in Rotorua shooting

Police searching for clues on January 18 near where Edwin Te Haare was shot. Picture / Alan Gibson

A Rotorua couple have been charged with the murder of former Black Power gang member Edwin Dale Te Haara.


Mr Te Haara, 37, was shot in the neck last Tuesday in the suburb of Western Heights but managed to wrestle the .22 rifle from his assailant before staggering up the driveway of a house and dying.


A 33-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman were arrested at separate locations in the Waikato town of Te Awamutu earlier today and charged with firearms offences.


Detective John Wilson of Rotorua said the charges had now been upgraded to murder and the couple would appear in Rotorua District Court later today.


Police were not seeking anybody else in connection with Mr Te Haara's death.

"We're not looking for anybody else at this stage but that doesn't preclude it (in the future)."

Police would today be conducting a forensic examination of a vehicle also found in the Waikato area.

Mr Te Haara, 37, moved to Rotorua from Auckland last April.

He was reported to have been in and out of jail for various assaults and was regarded as a "prison kingpin" during at least one stint behind bars, an anonymous woman told Rotorua's Daily Post last week.

- NZPA