NEWS Grief for beloved brother

THE heartbroken older sisters and brother of murdered Victorian man Sean McKinnon yesterday spoke of their love for their “wonderful” brother describing him as a real character who loved to travel the world and surf.

Emmeline, a Victorian policewoman, Mary and Lachlan McKinnon gathered outside Hamilton District Court, their faces etched with grief as they told the media how difficult it was to tell their mother Sean had been murdered.

“He was my mother’s favourite,” Ms McKinnon said.

“We all loved him very deeply. I was devastated to hear that his life had been taken from him.

“We are glad that he was not too far from home.”

Mr McKinnon’s siblings travelled to New Zealand after being told of the murder of their brother in the early hours of Friday morning.

Mr McKinnon and his fiancee, midwife, Bianca Buckley had been asleep in their hired camper van in a remote car park at the Te Toto Gorge south of Auckland, when they were woken by a man asking for help.

A local resident who helped Ms Buckley after she escaped, told the media the man had said he wanted their van to get back to the town of Hamilton.

The resident said the man had smashed the window of the van with the butt of his gun and put the gun through the window and shot Mr McKinnon twice.

He then pushed Ms Buckley out of the van allowing her to take some clothes and telling her he would not kill her.

She hid until the gunman had driven off and then ran for her life to residents about two kilometres away.

New Zealand police launched a massive manhunt for the gunman and at 11pm on Friday night they surrounded a house in a rural area outside the city Hamilton.

Waikato District Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Graham Pitkethley, said information from the public had led to the capture of the suspected gunman.