Bob Kleiman of Whangarei was murdered in October 2022. Photo / supplied
Bob Kleiman of Whangarei was murdered in October 2022. Photo / supplied
A landlord’s chilling discovery of a lifeless body in a pool of blood set off an investigation that would reveal a pact among three friends, each pushing the “accident” narrative.
But the jury saw it differently, concluding the victim died with the barrel of a gun in his mouth— a deliberate, cold-blooded murder.
For two weeks, evidence has been presented by the Crown at the High Court at Whangārei against Ike Kingi, 44, his partner Leonie Farrell, 33, and an accomplice Stacy Jamieson, 37, who were involved in the murder of Bob Kleiman.
Kingi was charged with murder and two charges of perverting the course of justice, Farrell was charged with two charges of perverting the course of justice and Jamieson with one charge of perverting the course of justice and one of accessory after the fact to murder.
On October 27, 2022, a landlord arrived at his vacant property in Onerahi, Whangārei, and found 56-year-old Kleiman lying dead on the living room floor with one gunshot wound to the head.
After a police investigation was launched the mystery of what happened to Kleiman unravelled.
The jury heard Kingi was renovating the property on October 26 in preparation for him, his partner Farrell and their new baby to move in when Kleiman arrived.
Kingi told police that Kleiman was showing him his gun – a 0.22 Rossi rifle – and the gun went off accidentally as Kingi went to sit down.
“I panicked and looked to where Bob was, I saw he had a head wound and I knew I could not help him. It was only Bob and I who were inside the house at the time of the incident,” Kingi said in a written statement to the police.
However, medical experts at trial presented evidence that the gun went off while making skin contact at the right side of Kleiman’s mouth and had left gunshot particles inside his mouth.
Ike Wellington Kingi was found to have pulled the trigger that killed Bob Kleiman. Photo / NZME
CCTV from neighbouring houses placed Kingi, Farrell and Jamieson at the scene at key times before and after the shooting and captured all three fleeing in Kingi’s black Nissan Navara.
However, minutes later Jamieson was captured returning to the house on foot and allegedly tampered with evidence by covering Kleiman’s body and putting a mat over a pool of blood beside him. He also allegedly disposed of the firearm.
While Jamieson did that, Farrell took Kingi further north to hide him and then later sent texts to the landlord and a friend to change their police statements.
The defence argued that the group were friends and that Kingi never intended to harm Kleiman. Annabelle Ives, representing Farrell, stated her client was focused solely on her newborn at the time, attending to the baby in the ute.
The jury, originally 12 members, was reduced to 10 during the first week of the trial for various reasons and retired on Thursday afternoon of the second week to deliberate on their verdicts.
On Friday the jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges and all offenders.
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.
