Tamihere informant unmasked

AUCKLAND: A second secret informant — Witness B — who testified in David Tamihere’s doublemurder trial nearly 30 years ago can now be revealed at the late Stephen Kapa.

Witness B’s unmasking comes after Witness C was revealed as Roberto Conchie Harris.

Kapa was one of three prison snitches the Crown relied on to give ‘‘powerful’’ evidence during the 1990 jury trial, in which Tamihere was found guilty of murdering Swedish tourists Urban Hoglin (23) and Heidi Paakkonen (21) in the Coromandel Ranges in 1989.

Witness A is now the only prison informant of the three snitches to still have identity suppression from Tamihere’s trial.

However, his exact location and wellbeing is unknown, despite speculation the informant may now be overseas, possibly in Fiji.

The prisoners all claimed Tamihere had, at different times, while in custody, confessed to how he sexually assaulted and killed the Swedes.

Inmate Arthur Taylor, who was behind the perjury prosecution of Harris, also argued for Witness B’s name suppression to be revoked.

Justice Mark Woolford removed the veil on Kapa, revoking the suppression order made on November 20, 1990, by trial judge Justice David Tompkins. It was due to come into effect from May 1, to allow the Crown, which opposed the order, to seek further legal options.

‘‘The events that followed the Tamihere trial, including Wit ness C’s convictions for perjury, also take this case outside the norm. The public interest now requires a free exchange of information and opinions. The principle of open justice should prevail,’’ Justice Woolford said.

However, on Thursday night, as news of Harris’ past and malignant offending was made public, Taylor filed a memorandum in the High Court seeking that Witness B’s name be unsuppressed immediately.

Justice Woolford quickly granted the application — allowing publication of Kapa’s name.

Kapa died in a car crash on February 18, 1995.

Kapa claimed to have spoken to Tamihere three times while they were inmates at Mt Eden Prison in July 1989. He alleged Tamihere told him police would never find Hoglin and Paakkonen and that he had cut the bodies up.

In 1991, Hoglin’s remains were discovered intact by pig hunters in bush near Whangamata.

Taylor believes Kapa, like Harris, lied during Tamihere’s trial and that Kapa never met the man convicted of killing the Swedish backpackers.

It is a claim disputed by the Crown, which points to the evidence of a Mount Eden Prison officer who testified during Tamihere’s trial about prisoner movements, meaning Tamihere and Kapa may have met between July 7 and 11, 1989.

Minister of Justice Andrew Little said it was time to review the use of jailhouse informants.

‘‘We’ve seen so many cases now where jailhouse snitches have proven to be, frankly, abject liars and from a justice system point of view it’s a waste of time and resources to have cases reliant on their evidence, and I think it’s time to review that.

Tamihere was sentenced to life imprisonment after his trial nearly three decades ago. All his appeals were rejected, and he was denied leave to appeal to the Privy Council. Eventually he was released on parole in 2010, but always professed his innocence. — NZME

❛ We’ve seen so many

cases now where jailhouse snitches have proven to be, frankly, abject liars . . .

Andrew Little