Murder victim's mother welcomes arrest

The mother of South Waikato murder victim Stephen George - whose charred body was found inside his home last October - says she is encouraged by the arrest of a man for the burglary of her son's home.

The accused 42-year-old man, of Tokoroa, was remanded in custody after a brief appearance in Rotorua District Court yesterday. He is set to reappear in court today.

Police will not say if further charges are pending. In a slight twist to the inquiry, a 42-year-old man who had previously been spoken to in relation to Mr George's murder was found dead on a Parawera property near Te Awamutu on Monday.

Investigations into that man's fate were now complete and police issued a statement that the death had no suspicious circumstances and had been referred to the coroner.

Police have previously confirmed that Mr George, a 35-year-old farm manager and father of four, had links to a cannabis-dealing operation in South Waikato.

At the time, the revelation caught his mother Lindsay by surprise.

Yesterday she told the Herald that she had not been briefed about yesterday's court appearance, only learning of it when contacted by the paper.

"It sounds as if they've got something moving.

"I always thought they would. I don't think they [police] can say too much."

She said there would not be closure for the family until they knew what occurred on the day of her son's death and who was responsible for it.

"So until I hear something more positive and somebody's been put away I'm not going to let it rest."

The investigation into Mr George's death initially appeared to have investigators stumped, with little physical evidence left at his burnt-out farmhouse in Tirohanga, near Atiamuri.

The victim's burnt-out car was found four days later in a remote Waikato location, 12km northwest of Mangakino. There were a pair of mismatched socks inside.

In March a gun was found in a deep section of the Waikato River by a police dive team, but after a forensic examination any possible links with the Stephen George murder were ruled out.