Two charged with killing ex-gang member

A 33-year-old man is taken to the Rotorua District Court yesterday afternoon . Picture / Alan Gibson

A Rotorua couple have been charged with killing former Black Power member Edwin Te Haara, 33, who was gunned down in the city a week ago.

The 33-year-old man and 18-year-old woman entered no plea to charges of murder and unlawful possession of a pistol when they appeared in Rotorua District Court yesterday.

The man, who had two black eyes, was remanded in custody for a predepositions hearing on February 27.

A bail hearing for the woman continues today.

Police have opposed bail for the pair, whose names were suppressed.

Judge Phillip Cooper declined an application for media cameras in court, citing concerns for the safety of the defendants.

He said he would recommend to police that the man, who allegedly pulled the trigger of the gun that killed Mr Te Haara, was kept separate from other prisoners for the same reason. The gun was named as a cut-down .22 Stirling model 14 firearm in court documents.

The pair were arrested at separate houses in the Waikato early yesterday.

A car that police had been searching for since Mr Te Haara was shot in a residential street in Western Heights was also recovered.

Witnesses saw the green Mitsubishi RVR leave the street after Mr Te Haara was shot in the neck following an argument with the occupants. He died on a resident's doorstep after reportedly wrestling the gun off the male passenger. A woman was driving.

Detective Sergeant John Wilson said yesterday that detective work rather than sightings of the suspects or car had led to the arrests.