Shot couple to be laid to rest together

Carmen and Ivan Maheno. Photo / Supplied

A Far North couple fatally shot at their home will be buried together but their families are yet to decide where.

A family member from Kaitaia, who did not wish to be named, said they expected to have the bodies of Ivan and Carmen Maheno back at Te Paatu Marae in Pamapuria today. Mother-of-two Carmen, 38, died about 10.30pm in Whangarei Hospital on Sunday after being shot in her Fairburn home, 15km east of Kaitaia, that day.

Her husband, Ivan, 44, was also fatally shot in the same incident. His body was removed from the house about 2pm on Monday, after family had gathered.

Ivan and Carmen married two years ago and had two children together, aged 8 and 17. Neither child was home at the time of the shootings and they are now in the care of extended family.

Post-mortem examinations at Auckland were to be finished late yesterday, with the bodies to be taken North today.

The family member said both sides of the family were coming together at the marae today to discuss where the couple would be laid to rest.

Whanau were coming from throughout New Zealand as well as Australia for the tangi.

"One thing we have agreed on is that they will be buried together but we have to talk about where that will be," he said.

Ivan's brother, Gordon Maheno, told media the couple's violent deaths had been a "nightmare" for the family.

The shootings were a fresh shock for the small Pamapuria community after local school deputy principal James Parker admitted sexually abusing boys who slept over at his Awanui farm. He is due to be sentenced.

It has been revealed Mrs Maheno raised concerns about Parker with the former Oturu School principal, Fiona Lovatt Davis, who then went to police.

Chairman of Te Rarawa Runanga Haami Piripi said the Pamapuria community was shocked and under severe pressure, given the run of tragic events.

"We are in a community, I think, that is in great need of support and not just the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff stuff. More pro-active interventions are required at a socio-economic level and a cultural level," Mr Piripi said.

Pamapuria man, Edwin Harvey Maheno, 38, is charged with two counts of murder. He stood in silence in the Kaitaia District Court on Monday as he was remanded in custody to May 30 for an assessment of his mental health and fitness to plead.