David Tamihere murder appeal delayed for two years by new DNA testing

Tuesday, 21 June 2022

Thirty years after being convicted of the murder of two Swedish tourists, Sven Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen, David Tamihere will have his case re-considered by the Court of Appeal for the second time (First published in April 2020)

David Tamihere, who was convicted of murdering Swedish tourists Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen in 1989, has had his appeal delayed for more than two years because the Crown is carrying out new DNA testing on crucial evidence.

Tamihere served 20 years in prison for the backpackers’ murders, but has always denied being guilty, and the case remains one of the country’s most controversial homicides.

In April 2020, the Minister of Justice and Governor-General referred Tamihere’s case back to the Court of Appeal because of concerns with the convictions’ safety.

However, the appeal has still not been heard, and a date for it remains to be set, because the Crown has requested new forensic tests on exhibits from the 1989 investigation.

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Swedish tourists Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen went missing in April 1989 in the Coromandel. Hoglin’s body was discovered two years later, but Paakkonen has never been found.

Crown Law, which is responsible for criminal prosecutions in New Zealand, blamed the delay on Covid-19 lockdowns, locating exhibits, and obtaining court direction to allow re-testing, among other things.

“The process of extracting DNA from the exhibits is now nearing completion.

David Tamihere was arrested for murdering Heidi Paakkonen and her fiancé Urban Hoglin in 1989. He was found guilty the following year, and sentenced to life in prison.

“If any usable DNA is obtained, a further process will be undertaken to compare it to relevant DNA samples.

“The Crown is committed to ensuring the Court of Appeal has before it all the relevant information it needs to determine whether a miscarriage of justice has occurred in this case.”

Tamihere was on the run from police, and living off the land in the Coromandel area in April 1989, after skipping bail on a rape charge.

He became the prime suspect in the investigation into Hoglin and Paakkonen’s disappearance, after it was discovered he had stolen their car, which had been parked at the start of a rugged walking track.

Jailhouse snitch Roberto Conchie Harris was convicted of perjury, after claiming David Tamihere confessed to him in prison. Harris died in prison last year.

Police claimed Tamihere murdered the couple near Crosbies Clearing, 12km northeast of Thames, stole Hoglin’s watch and gave it to his son, and took their car and possessions.

Their case relied on identification evidence from two trampers, and three jailhouse snitches who claimed Tamihere confessed to the murders while in prison.

However, the police theory was seriously undermined the year after Tamihere was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, when Hoglin’s body was found in a shallow grave more than 70km away, on the other side of the Coromandel, near Whangamatā.

David Tamihere has always insisted he is innocent of killing Hoglin and Paakkonen, but says he got caught up in the investigation after stealing their car, while he was on the run.

Not only had Hoglin not been beaten around the head, cut up and dumped at sea, as the snitches variously alleged, the watch Tamihere had supposedly given to his son was found on Hoglin’s body.

Despite this, the Court of Appeal dismissed Tamihere’s first appeal in 1992.

However, in 2017, in a private prosecution of one of the jailhouse snitches, Roberto Conchie Harris, a jury concluded Harris had lied that Tamihere confessed to him, and found him guilty on eight charges of perjury.

Harris, a double murderer and serial snitch, died in prison last year.

In the wake of this, Tamihere’s 2018 application for the Royal prerogative of mercy – a last gasp request for another appeal – was granted after being reviewed by retired High Court judge Sir Graham Panckhurst.

The grounds of appeal related to Harris’ evidence now being shown to be false, given it had supported the eyewitness evidence from two trampers who said they saw Tamihere with a woman resembling Paakkonen at Crosbies Clearing.

Following this, the Crown asked ESR to retest items from Tamihere and the Swedish tourists, using current DNA techniques.

The protracted forensic testing means it is unlikely Tamihere’s appeal will be heard this year.

Its approach to forensic testing contrasts with that of police in 2017 who unilaterally destroyed clothing found buried near where Hoglin’s body was found, without testing it, after a visual assessment it was only 10 years old.

Tamihere is resigned to the delays in getting a chance to prove his innocence after nearly 33 years.

“It’s down to the Crown. They’re the ones who are swinging the lead at the moment. And you can’t do much about it. It’s just the way they run the system.

“But it’s not something that surprises me – I’ve waited this long, a bit longer is not going to make much difference.”

Tamihere, now 68, is no longer subject to restrictive special conditions he faced after being paroled in 2010, but his life sentence means he could be recalled to prison at any time.

He accepts the jail time he received for his other crimes, including a manslaughter when he was 18, but is adamant he didn’t kill Paakkonen and Hoglin, despite stealing their car.

Given the evidence that has emerged since his conviction – the discovery of Hoglin’s body far from the alleged crime scene, and Harris’s perjury conviction – Tamihere and his lawer, Murray Gibson, insist the police case against him has been utterly undermined.