Two more men accused of the "execution-style" killing of Tauranga man David Kuka have appeared in court, more than four years after the homicide investigation was launched.
Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
Dane Mark Pukepuke, 54, and a 45-year-old man whose name is suppressed appeared before Judge Bill Lawson at the Tauranga District Court on Thursday morning.
Pukepuke is listed on charging documents as being an orchard worker.
Kuka was allegedly killed by the pair on 11 February, 2018, in the Tauranga suburb of Gate Pa. Police believe the murder was a case of mistaken identity.
In court, both men stood silently in the dock. Members of the defendants' families sat in the public gallery.
Acting for Pukepuke, lawyer Martin Hine did not enter a plea. Xu Wang, acting for the other man, entered a plea of not guilty and sought interim name suppression for his client, which was granted until the man's next appearance.
Crown prosecutor Anna Pollett signalled her intention to oppose name suppression when it is reconsidered.
The arrest of the pair yesterday means there are now four men accused of the father-of-four's murder.
Luke William Belmont, 34, was charged in December and Adrian Rewiri, 36, was charged in January. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
All four defendants will now appear in court together, currently scheduled for 19 October.
Despite the passage of time since Kuka's death, the investigation team led by detective sergeant Paul Barron had remained confident of solving the case.
NZME has previously revealed that the police believe Kuka was mistakenly killed in retaliation for the death of another man living in the same building, who was shot dead several weeks earlier.
"David wasn't always a saint but he had turned his life around. We believe it's a case of mistaken identity and there are people out there who know what happened," detective inspector Lew Warner previously told NZME.
"We'd urge them to do the right thing and tell us what they know."
A private man who was last seen playing a guitar in his room, Kuka was of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Porou descent.
As a young boy, Kuka was brought up on Matakana Island by his grandmother before he settled in Greerton. He went to Greerton School and Tauranga Boys' College.
- This story was first published on the NZ Herald website