Richard Anthony Leman Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
The man accused of murdering Richard Leman in Rangiora will go to trial in 2026.
Leman, 41, had been missing for about a week before he was was found dead in his own car parked in a garage of an abandoned house at Tyler Street on 17 April 2023.
Michael Scott Rodger, 46, denied the charged, and was originally scheduled to stand trial last month, before was adjourned at the eleventh hour.
The New Zealand Herald earlier reported Leman's body was dismembered, and only his torso was found in the car's boot, with "several" parts still missing, after being shot.
Last month, a woman pleaded pleaded guilty to a charge arising from the investigation into the death of Leman.
Morgan Grant appeared in the High Court at Christchurch on 11 September via audio-visual link, where she entered the plea, but the details of the charge are suppressed.
Before his body was found, Leman's sister Nicola called him "a big baby at heart", with "the kindest heart".
In a social media post following the arrest, she said her family had "prayed for this day to come... and for justice to prevail".
"Richard was and always will be a son, a brother and a father who loved his family with all that he had and in return his family loved him unconditionally. The past seven weeks have been the most heart-breaking and stressful of all our lives,
"As Richard's book of life is written this chapter is now closed, with the remaining chapters yet to be written, undoubtedly, they will be filled with more tears as we navigate the times ahead, watching, waiting and praying for justice to be served."
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