Anaru Morunga is on trial for the murder of Jasmaine Reihana after her body was found in a car on Ripiro Beach. Photos / Northern Advocate
WARNING: This article discusses violence and may be upsetting to some readers.
Blood on the walls, the sharp smell of Janola, a missing tractor and a missing woman – those were the clues that led police to a burnt‑out car where the remains of a body were found in the back seat.
Anaru Ihaka Morunga, 35, is on trial in the High Court at Whangārei accused of murdering his former partner Jasmaine Colleen Reihana before attempting to destroy evidence and evade police.
Crown prosecutor Bernadette O’Connor opened the case to the jury and Justice David Johnstone on Monday afternoon, outlining the events they allege took place before Reihana’s death.
Reihana, known as Jaz, and Morunga shared two children but separated in 2018, with neither retaining their children’s care.
O’Connor said the pair reconnected in 2022 but the nature of the relationship was unclear.
By 2024, Morunga was living and working on Te Atarangi Angus Farm on the Pouto peninsula in Kaipara.
He lived in a farmhouse with his mother, Suzanne Morunga, and her partner, Michael Jones, who was also employed by the farm.
On Thursday September 5, 2024, Reihana drove Morunga to a tangi in Ōtorohanga, where his mother was also present.
Witnesses allege on the final night of the tangi, Morunga addressed the marae, and appeared under the influence of drugs.
“You will hear, he looked fried,” O’Connor told the jury.
On Sunday, September 8, the couple travelled back to Poutō, stopping to buy beer.
They arrived at the farmhouse between 4pm and 5pm, where Jones was doing housework.
Jones allegedly noticed Morunga was agitated, while Reihana was unusually quiet and subdued.
“That was not like her,” O’Connor told the jury.
The Crown says Jones saw Morunga allegedly following Reihana in and out of the house and scratching his head with a large kitchen knife.
Feeling unsafe, he went to the bathroom and texted his partner at 5pm who was now in Auckland.
“He is fried as f***, he’s scratching his head with a big knife ... I think something is going to happen tonight,” the text said.
Jones made an excuse to leave and drove to the cowshed, where he phoned police.
He also asked his partner to call police.
When Jones returned to the house minutes later, Morunga allegedly came outside swearing, kicking and hitting Jones’ vehicle.
Jones retreated and drove to the cowshed and waited for police, who arrived about 6.15pm.
They escorted him back to the house but Morunga and Reihana were gone, with her car.
Inside, they found blood on the dining‑room floor and along the walls.
Jones stayed at a friend’s that night but returned the next morning and noticed Morunga’s truck was gone and a quad bike had been left in its place.
Assuming Morunga was back and fearing for his safety, he locked himself inside a shed in the milking yard and called police again.
While inside, he heard Morunga’s truck repeatedly driving past.
During this time, Suzanne Morunga had been trying unsuccessfully to contact Reihana.
Concerned, she drove to the Dargaville police station, then drove to the Poutō Rd address.
On the way, she saw her son driving and managed to pull him over, persuading him to return home.
When she and her son arrived back at the farmhouse, she was met with what she described as an “overwhelming smell of Janola”.
Morunga refused to go inside, telling his mother chickens had made a mess and he had cleaned it up.
The Crown said Suzanne Morunga called her other son Haki and gave the phone to Morunga but he allegedly became paranoid it was the police, threw the phone out the window and left.
Police caught up to Morunga fleeing along State Highway 12, leading them on an aggressive chase through roadworks, crossing lanes and into oncoming traffic.
His car was spiked several times before he was eventually forced off the road and arrested near the Brynderwyns.
The Crown said while this was happening, discoveries were being made around the farm on the morning of Monday, September 9.
Workers noticed the tractor was gone, fences had been demolished and tyre tracks led them 5km from the tractor shed to the beach where Reihana’s burnt-out car was found.
Police were called and arrived about 12pm, and found the remains of a body in the back seat of the burnt-out car.
The remains were identified through DNA as Reihana’s.
When Morunga was interviewed by the police, he initially said he could not remember what happened.
O’Connor said as the interview went on, Morunga began to recall events, admitting he slit her throat with a knife.
“I just smoked her, just f****** wasted the c***” Morunga said in his interview.
He then told police he just “killed her, took her and threw her into the car”.
The Crown said when he was asked if she was already dead when he put her in the car, he replied “yep she was gone, she was gone bro, it’s like I said, I smoked her”.
O’Connor said the Crown did not have to prove what the motive was.
“You just need to be sure he did kill Jasmaine, and he did so with murderous intent,” O’Connor told the jury.
Morunga’s lawyer Arthur Fairley chose not to give any opening statements to the jury.
More than 40 witnesses will be called to give evidence at the trial, expected to last three weeks.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.