Police investigating the fatal shooting of George Taiaroa have charged a man with murder.
George Taiaroa. Photo: SUPPLIED
Mr Taiaroa was killed on 19 March 2013 while working at a road construction site in Atiamuri.
Police said today a 45-year-old man had been arrested without incident at an address in Stratford, in Taranaki, and had been charged with murder.
He will appear in the New Plymouth District Court tomorrow.
Mr Taiaroa, 67, was killed while manning a stop-go sign at a bridge on Tram Road, in the Kinleith Forest area.
In April and May 2013, police searched a house in Whangamomona, Taranaki, and a rural property near Rotorua. At the time investigating officers said they had a prime suspect.
A year later, on the anniversary of Mr Taiaroa's death, police said they were making positive steps in their inquiry and still had only one main suspect.
The officer in charge of the case, Detective Superintendent Tim Anderson, said today while the investigation had taken more than two years, the police's determination to solve the case had not wavered for a second.
The police dive squad searched the Waikato River in March 2013 near where Mr Taiaroa was shot. Photo: RNZ