Victim named
The 27-year-old woman allegedly murdered in Christchurch can now be named. A tradesman found Nicole Marie Tuxford’s body at a Merivale house about lunchtime on Saturday, April 7. A 54-year-old Aranui man, whose name is suppressed, is accused of her murder. He is also charged with sexually violating her and taking her car. He appeared in the High Court at Christchurch on Friday, and was further remanded in custody. The trial date is May 6, 2019.
Guitarist dies
The Exponents guitarist David ‘‘Duck’’ Barraclough died on Wednesday after a month-long battle with pancreatic cancer. Barraclough played in the iconic Kiwi band from 1994 to 2000 and was a New Zealand 2015 Music Hall of Fame inductee. ‘‘No more pain, no suffering,’’ lead singer of The Exponents Jordan Luck said. ‘‘When last we spoke he was more cheerful than his normal happy self and only despondent about his beloved Crystal Palace’s woeful season.’’ The guitarist was born in Queensland and lived in Sydney before joining the Exponents. There would be no funeral, Luck said. ‘‘David has just gone out to buy some strings.’’
Greenpeace plea deal
Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman and a fellow activist have changed their minds and will plead guilty to interfering in the operations of a oil industry survey ship. Norman and Sara Howell and another man intercepted oil industry survey ship Amazon Warrior off the Wairarapa coast in April 2017 and swam in an exclusion zone near the ship. Greenpeace said the pair ‘‘will plead guilty and seek a discharge without conviction on the basis that their conduct was justified and necessary to bring about required change to government policy’’. When Norman and Howell appear next week in the Napier District Court, it is understood the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will withdraw charges against Greenpeace. The other man, Gavin Mulvay, accepted diversion in October.
Tourist on murder charge
A 62-year-old tourist has been charged with murder after a woman’s body was found at Nelson’s Rutherford Hotel. Police were called to the inner-city hotel shortly before 9am on Friday after the body of a 62-year-old woman was discovered in a hotel room. Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Johnston said they’d identified the woman and were working to contact her next-of-kin, who were overseas. The victim was known to the man and they were both travelling on foreign passports. Johnston said it was understood the pair were part of a tour group. Police were working to notify the relevant embassy before publicly releasing where the foreign nationals were from. The man has been granted interim name suppression and remanded in police custody until Monday.