‘My story hasn’t changed since day one’

It’s been 30 years since David Tamihere was convicted for the murder of Swedish backpackers Heidi Paakkonen and Sven Urban Hoglin but the grandfather tells Edward Gay he still wants to clear his name.

David Tamihere was at home on Tuesday when his phone rang. His lawyer Murray Gibson was on the line, informing him that after years of fighting his double conviction for murder, they’d been thrown a rare legal life-line, a Royal Prerogative of Mercy.

‘‘All you think of is: ‘It’s about time’. I’d got to the stage where I said: ‘Well, how much more of the Crown’s case has to fall apart before someone says: ‘It’s time to have another look at it’?’’

It has been 30 years since he was jailed for the 1989 murders of Swedish backpackers Sven Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen.

Tamihere was convicted of their murders, spent 20 years in prison and was released on parole in 2010.

The Nga¯ ti Porou man has always maintained his innocence, and says he has unflinchingly stood by his version of events from the time of his first arrest.

‘‘There’s no difference from day one. My story hasn’t changed from day one.’’

In 1989 Tamihere was on the run from the police. Living in the Coromandel bush, he skipped bail to avoid being sent to prison for rape. He caught wild goats, sold the odd possum pelt and lived off food he could forage, the same skills his ancestors were using to live off the land as recently as the 1950s.

‘‘You’re not doing anything that someone else hasn’t done before. I know a lot of people think it sounds impressive but you’re just walking a path that someone else has already laid out for you.’’

Tamihere came across the Swedes’ white Subaru parked up at the end of Tararu Creek road.

Where the road ends, a bush walking track begins, leading to the campsite Crosbie’s clearing, deep in the heart of the Coromandel Forest Park.

‘‘I think whatever happened, happened long before I went up that Tararu Creek Rd. I’ve been given a few names and that but the ones I’ve been told don’t sort of match the timeline.’’

Tamihere freely admits stealing Paakkonen and Hoglin’s car but that’s where he says his involvement ends.

‘‘I would’ve been better off stealing the governor-general’s car at the time but I didn’t know it... Obviously if I had known there was something dodgy about it, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near it.’’

Months later Tamihere was linked to the stolen car and admitted selling some of the Swedes’ camping gear in Auckland.

He was charged with the murders of Hoglin and Paakkonen.

The Crown’s case against Tamihere was largely circumstantial. Two trampers who visited Crosbie’s Clearing on April 8, 1989, saw a woman resembling Paakkonen who seemed uneasy. They spoke to the man she was with and later identified him as Tamihere.

But it was the manner of the identification that Tamihere to this day disputes.

One tramper identified Tamihere after being shown a photograph by the police. Both men also confirmed their identification of Tamihere after seeing him at the Thames District Court at a time when Tamihere was suspected of the murders.

The trial judge, Justice David Tompkins, ruled that their evidence was tainted but the Crown took the decision to the Court of Appeal.

The senior court allowed the appeal, ruling the tramper’s identification of Tamihere could go to the jurors, despite the police’s failure to hold an identity parade.

The senior court judges were impressed by the quality of the trampers’ evidence and the care they took in reaching their decisions.

But they also had this warning for the police: ‘‘Although we are allowing the appeal on the particular facts, and do so ultimately with no hesitation, the judgement of Tompkins J will be a salutary reminder that incorrect identification techniques by the police can jeopardise the course of justice.’’

The Crown also relied on evidence from three secret witnesses.

All three prison inmates said Tamihere made various confessions of his crime while inside prison.

One, until recently only known only as Witness C, claimed Tamihere spoke of sexually abusing both the Swedes before killing them.

Witness C, now identified as Roberto Conchie Harris, claimed Tamihere told him he had Paakkonen in the bush with him when ‘‘a couple [came] across them and that he almost got sprung...’’

Harris said Tamihere spoke of beating Hoglin about his head with a lump of wood and strangling Paakkonen before dumping their bodies out to sea. He also said Tamihere had given Hoglin’s watch to his son.

Tamihere says the evidence from the secret witnesses was devastating. The jurors took it to heart.

‘‘You just knew, [they] didn’t give a damn what you said, you were going down for it. The impact, it was amazing, the effect... and that was what was intended by the Crown. They got exactly what they wanted.’’

Tamihere recalls how one juror complained about being sick after hearing from one of the witnesses. Justice Tompkins adjourned for some hours to allow the juror to recover.

Tamihere was found guilty of both murders.

Serious questions about the secret witness evidence were raised after Hoglin’s body was found by pig hunters in 1991, more than 70km from Crosbie’s Clearing and on the other side of the Coromandel Peninsula. For starters, Hoglin’s body was found in a make-shift grave, not at sea. His watch was still on his wrist and his skull was intact.

Forensic analysis suggested he had been stabbed. Paakkonen’s body has never been found.

Since then, Harris has flipflopped on his evidence, initially recanting and accusing the police offering him $100,000 and support when he appeared before the Parole Board.

Then, in 1996, Harris again changed his story, this time claiming gang members had threatened him and his family.

Later, an Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation cleared police of any wrong-doing.

But it would take a private prosecution headed by then jailhouse lawyer Arthur Taylor to convict Harris of perjury.

Tamihere says the case has had huge implications.

‘‘It’s important in itself but it’s also the very first time a secret witness has been convicted for perjury.’’

The location of Hoglin’s body also caused problems for the Crown’s narrative that largely centred around Crosbie’s clearing.

When Tamihere took his case to the Court of Appeal in 1992, the Crown was forced to make some changes to its theories.

Tamihere was initially optimistic.

‘‘When I went there, like an idiot, apart from everything else, I thought: ‘Yes, this is sweet cos it’ll be all done by the book’. Because we weren’t looking for a loophole we just wanted some things addressed and addressed properly.’’

He says the Crown was allowed to change its narrative and he and his lawyers were not given the opportunity to challenge it.

‘I don’t mind doing time for stuff I’d done and most of... yeah all the jail I got, I deserved every day of it. What I’m complaining about is that what happened in this murder one, should never have happened and it should never have been allowed to have happened.’

During the past four weeks since lockdown regulations began, we have seen a rise in the need for welfare support that is stunning in its scale.

The Salvation Army has been part of emergency responses since it began in

New Zealand in 1883, but this month has pushed us to a new level.

One of the earliest and most obvious signs of the current explosion in need came via the huge demand on our foodbanks and other organisations. In mid-April, The Salvation Army provided nearly 6000 food parcels in one week– more than in a normal month.

Much of our work is now with clients who have not needed help before. They have lost casual and permanent jobs and now have no income. We are also seeing a rise in older people, who would usually manage independently but now find themselves unable to leave their homes, or lack the support of someone who is able to do their shopping for them. There is also a growing need for welfare support for migrant workers who have lost their jobs – many from hospitality – and who are unable to return to their home countries because of travel restrictions. This group is of particular concern, as they have little or no entitlement to social welfare.

MoneyTalks Financial Helpline has seen a doubling of those contacting its free budgeting service. It is expected that mounting problems with debt and the vagaries of the consumer credit market will worsen.

While the lockdown has made access to alcohol and drugs more difficult, The Salvation Army addiction services reports growing concern around mental health issues related to food, housing and other pressures.

As the number of registered unemployed rises sharply, even the most optimistic predictions are that unemployment will more than double to levels not seen for decades. The Ministry of Social Development is struggling to

‘The Salvation Army provided nearly 6000 food parcels in one week – more in a normal month.’