Hundreds rally against violence
The man accused of murdering Whanganui woman Feona McKayPatea has appeared in court the same day an anti-violence march was held in her memory.
A 26-year-old man from south Taranaki appeared before a Justice of the Peace in the Whanganui District Court yesterday.
According to court documents, he allegedly murdered McKay-Patea in Whanganui between September 20 and October 3.
She was found on October 3 after police went to a property in Lee St, Castlecliff, following a missing person complaint.
The man, who has interim name suppression, is also charged with dishonestly using McKay-Patea’s eftpos card four times between September 20 and 23, stealing $1053 from her bank account through six bank transfers, and unlawfully taking her car.
The public gallery was full of wha¯ nau of both McKay-Patea and the man.
The man was kept in custody until his first High Court appearance in November.
The appearance, which came the day after Whanganui was named New Zealand’s most beautiful city at the Keep Zealand Beautiful Awards, was on the same day as a march against violence in the city.
It started at Moutoa Gardens, which backs on to the city’s courthouse, yesterday morning and was organised by Whanganui iwi Nga¯ Paerangi.
Kiritahi Firmin, McKay-Paeta’s aunt, said the march was to honour women in the city who had been tragically taken, including Jasmine Wilson and Lorna-Anne Thompson, and against violence. ‘‘We are here to hikoi for them. We as Whanganui say no [to violence].’’
A crowd of more than 300 people, including pupils from local kura, chanted the names of homicide victims as they walked from the gardens to Majestic Square.
Firmin asked everyone to close their eyes and think about ‘‘those who have been taken away from us’’.
‘‘Our Whanganui wha¯ nau, care for one another, so we don’t lose anybody else anymore.’’