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David Tamihere case goes to the Supreme Court

David Tamihere in 2017. Photo: RNZ Lawyers for double convicted murderer David Tamihere are in the country's highest court today, questioning whether his convictions should have been quashed. It is the latest chapter for Tamihere, who was convicted in December 1990 of murdering Swedish tourists Sven Urban Höglin, 23 and Heidi Birgitta Paakkonen, 21. They disappeared while tramping in dense bush in the Coromandel Peninsula the previous year. Tamihere served more than 20 years of a life sentence in prison before being released on parole in 2010. He has always denied even meeting the pair and there have been lingering questions around the convictions. In 2020 the then-Governor-General, on advice from former Justice Minister Andrew Little, granted Tamihere a rare Royal Prerogative of Mercy. The case was referred back to the Court of Appeal to rule on whether there may have been a miscarriage of justice. That court, in July last year, found there was - but upheld Tamihere's murder convictions because there was evidence beyond reasonable doubt he murdered the tourists. This, in turn, was appealed to the Supreme Court which is hearing the case now. The Supreme Court is normally based in Wellington but five Supreme Court judges will hear the case at the largest courtroom at the High Court in Auckland. It is the final appeal court in the country and only hears appeals if it earlier grants leave for this. That leave was issued just before Christmas and the case will centre on one approved question of whether the Court of Appeal was right to not exercise its jurisdiction under the Crimes Act to quash Tamihere's two murder convictions. When they granted leave, Supreme Court judges indicated particular interest in hearing submissions on whether Tamihere's trial was unfair, and if there was a fundamental error. They are also interested in hearing if the Court of Appeal was right to uphold the convictions. The judges are Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann, Justice Williams, Justice Glazebrook, Justice France and Justice Kós. Tamihere will be represented by his long-time lawyer, Murray Gibson as well as James Carruthers. The case is set down for three days. Arguments were made in the Court of Appeal that evidence from a jail-house snitch should never have been put to the jury at trial. Tamihere's lawyer James Carruthers said the false evidence undermined the Crown's case. The evidence was from "Witness C", Roberto Conchie Harris, revealed in 2018 as a secret informant. Harris said Tamihere confessed to the murders, but was privately prosecuted in 2017 and found guilty of eight counts of perjury over his evidence. The Crown case at the original trial was that Tamihere was living in the bush when he murdered the couple near Crosbies Clearing north of Thames. It partly relied on Harris' evidence that Tamihere disclosed he had almost been "sprung" by "a couple" while he was in the bush with Paakkonen. That account tended to back up evidence from two trampers who identified Tamihere as a man they encountered at Crosbies Clearing with a young woman. Harris also said Tamihere confessed to sexually abusing both tourists, before murdering them and dumping their bodies at sea. But Höglin's remains were found by pig hungers near Whangamatā two years after he was charged, more than 70km from where the Crown said the murders happened. Tamihere's lawyer argued that made it impossible for Tamihere to have disposed of the body the same afternoon he was allegedly seen with Paakkonen by the trampers. Höglin was still wearing the watch police claimed Tamihere had stolen and given to his son. The three Court of Appeal judges found Harris' evidence in the trial may have affected the jury's verdicts and so amounted to a miscarriage of justice. But they said this did not justify setting aside Tamihere's convictions. Their almost 90-page long ruling said other evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt it was Tamihere who murdered Höglin and Paakkonen. This included evidence that was not heard by the jury in the first trial but heard at the appeal. Their ruling highlighted: "It cannot be known exactly what happened to Ms Paakkonen, but the Court found the evidence consistent with a sequence of events in which the couple encountered Mr Tamihere at Wentworth, where Mr Höglin was killed and Ms Paakkonen was abducted and taken to Tararu Creek Road in the couple's car," the judges concluded. "We accept that it remains impossible to know the couple's precise movements after they were seen in Thames on 7 April and why they were killed. But we do not accept that it is impossible to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Tamihere killed them." Tamihere's lawyer Murray Gibson said after the ruling that Tamihere no longer had much faith in the justice system. Police welcomed last year's Court of Appeal ruling and called it "hugely validating" for the staff who worked on the case. They said they remained determined to find answers for the tourists' families. While Höglin's body was found in 1991 the location of his fiancé's body remained "one key piece missing from this puzzle", police said. They appealed for Tamihere to "do the right thing". There is no obligation for Tamihere to appear at the Supreme Court hearing. April 1989 - Heidi Birgitta Paakkonen and Sven Urban Höglin are last seen in Thames. Tamihere was on the run from police and living rough in the bush after pleading guilty to raping a woman three years earlier. May 1989 - David Tamihere is arrested over an earlier rape. That same day, the couple are reported missing. December 1990 - Tamihere is convicted of murdering the couple and sentenced to life imprisonment. 1991 - Höglin's body is found near Whangamatā. 1992 - The Court of Appeal rejects Tamihere's appeal. 1994 - Tamihere is denied leave to appeal to the Privy Council. 1995 - Witness C - later revealed as Roberto Conchie Harris - swears an affidavit retracting his evidence. 1996 - Harris retracts his retraction. 2010 - Tamihere is released on parole. 2016 - A private prosecution alleges Harris lied at Tamihere's trial. 2017 - Harris is sentenced after being found guilty of perjury and not guilty of perverting the course of justice. 2017 - Harris appeals the perjury convictions and sentence and fights to keep his identity hidden. 2018 - Harris drops his appeal against the perjury convictions. 2018 - The High Court revokes suppression order for Witness B, another prison informant. 2020 - Justice Minister Andrew Little announces Tamihere's case is going back to the Court of Appeal after a Royal Prerogative of Mercy is granted. November 2023 - The Court of Appeal hears Tamihere's case. July 2024 - The Court of Appeal declines to quash Tamihere's convictions. December 2024 - The Supreme Court grants leave for the case to be heard there. August 2025 - The case heads to the Supreme Court sitting in Auckland. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.