Police at the scene of the shooting in Manukau. File photo. Photo: Mabel Muller
Warning: Graphic content
The man who sparked a man hunt after murdering Mongrel Mob member Daniel Eliu, 46, at a South Auckland church has pleaded guilty.
Thomas Tahitahi shot Eliu, also known as "Sa-dan", in December 2022 on the grounds of the Papatoetoe Seventh Day Adventist Community Church on Puhinui Road.
About 200 people were at the event at the church.
Tahitahi, who is a Head Hunters patched member, was on parole and was released from prison a month before before the shooting.
He drove to the church from his home in Massey, west Auckland, before picking up another person from Point England along the way.
He walked onto the church grounds with a semi-automatic .22 hidden under a black jacket, court documents show.
Tahitahi fired six shots at Eliu in quick succession, from less than a metre away.
He was arrested 10 days later on 27 December 2022.
Eliu was given urgent first aid but died at the scene.
Tahitahi appeared at the High Court in Auckland today where he entered a guilty plea for the murder charges.
Justice Geoffrey Venning remanded the man in custody until his sentencing in mid-August this year.
Eliu had spent time in prison, and was the president of the Notorious Chapter of the Mongrel Mob.