A CCTV image captures one of the suspects along Diaz Drive around the time of the assault. Photo / Supplied
A CCTV image captures one of the suspects along Diaz Drive around the time of the assault. Photo / Supplied
A cold case investigation into the violent death of “happy-go-lucky” father Eddie Peters in Hastings in 2018 centres around three young gang members and a dog, police have now revealed.
In a Cold Case episode aired on national television on Tuesday night, police also revealed Peters had been able tomake a brief statement to detectives before succumbing to his injuries.
Peters, 45, was discovered bloodied and beaten on a driveway just after midnight on November 16, 2018, on Diaz Drive in the Hastings suburb of Flaxmere.
He had earlier been at an impromptu tangi about 200 metres up the road for an old school friend who was a senior Mongrel Mob member.
Eddie Peters died in 2018 after being badly beaten. Police have made a fresh appeal for information. Photo / NZ Police
Peters, who was not a gang member himself and was even described as harmless by those who knew him, died in Wellington Hospital eight days after the assault.
He spoke to police days before he died about the attack, and said “it might have been my fault” and “I could have been lippy”.
He acknowledged he was “quite drunk” at the tangi, and police also confirmed he told a family member it was “young ones” who attacked him.
No-one has been charged over his death, and police have been hindered by stonewalling and people refusing to speak to investigators.
That is despite up to 50 people being at the tangi that night, many of whom were patched Mongrel Mob members.
CCTV footage released by police of people at the tangi, including a young person of interest. Photo / Supplied
With the help of CCTV footage, police have been able to piece together that three young gang members who had been at the tangi and a dog are likely to have chased him down Diaz Drive that night.
Detective Sergeant Craig Vining said the altercation could have stemmed from something as innocuous as Eddie being cheeky.
“We know at some point Eddie has turned around and run up Diaz Drive, and these guys have chased him down the road,” he said.
“One of these three had a dog with them.”
He said all three had Mongrel Mob patches - two being red patches and one being black - with two of the men being aged in their early 20s and one in his late teens.
A map of Diaz Drive in Flaxmere. Photo / Supplied
He said it was important anyone with information came forward.
“We can’t impress on people enough - if we don’t get the community’s assistance with these sorts of investigations, it tends to stall.
“And that is exactly what happened.
“I know that there will be plenty of people who attended that tangi that night - plenty of mobsters - that know exactly who was involved and who was responsible for assaulting Eddie and the actions that led to his death, without a doubt.”
