Three face joint murder charge

Press, 28 May 1983, Page 3

Three face joint murder charge

PA Wellington A youth beat a man, tried to strangle him and cut his throat, ahd finally drowned him, the District Court at Lower Hutt heard yesterday. Esther Te Aranganui Solvoll, aged 21, a solo mother, James Hemi Hukanui Reha, aged 19, unemployed, and Paul Manihera, aged 21, unemployed, appeared for the taking of depositions on a joint charge of murdering Mark Norman Harkin in Lower Hutt on March 5. Mr Mike Bungay, appearing for Reha and Solvoll, and Mr Alastair Gilchrist, for Manihera, invited Judge Gilbert to rule that a prima facie case had been established without reviewing the evidence. The Judge accepted this, and the accused all pleaded not guilty and were remanded in custody to June 13 for trial at the High Court in Wellington. Written statements from 35 witnesses were given to : the Court.

rjpfpctivp Gnnstahle John Aidan Spence said in a written statement that he interviewed Reha at the Lower Hutt police station on March 7. Reha told him that on the night of March 5 he had been drinking at a hotel with his sister, Solvoll, and her boyfriend, Manihera. They met a pakeha (Mr Harkin) and decided to lure him to the bank of the Hutt River and rob him. At the riverbank, Reha punched and kicked Mr

Harkin, tried to strangle him with a belt and cut his throat with a spur/ When this did not work Reha and Manihera dragged him into the water and held his head under for a few minutes.

Reha told Mr Spence he had taken a watch, a cheque, and about $lB from Mr Harkin. Dr Kenneth John Thompson, the pathologist who made the post-mortem examination, said he concluded that Mr Harkin’s death was due to drowning after attempted strangulation and multiple blows to the head and neck.