Gisborne cold case: Arrest in 2013 Ronald Allison house fire death

A 62-year-old woman charged with murder and arson in relation to the death of a Gisborne war veteran has appeared in court.

Eastern District Police arrested the woman today over the death of Ronald Russell Allison in 2013.

She made a brief appearance in the Hamilton District Court this afternoon, wearing dark glasses and walking with the help of a walking stick.

Gisborne man Ronald Russell Allison died in a suspicious house fire in 2013. Photo / Police

A lawyer acting as agent for the woman’s counsel, Rachael Adams, applied for bail stating that conditions had been negotiated with and agreed to by police.

Suppression was also successfully sought.

Judge Grant Fraser remanded the woman on bail to a Waikato property to reappear in the High Court at Gisborne later this month.

The 88-year-old man, known as Russell, died in a suspicious fire at his home in Te Karaka, near Gisborne, in the early hours of January 25 nine years ago.

Eastern District CIB crime services manager Detective Senior Sergeant John McCarthy said police hoped the arrest would provide some closure for the dead man’s family.

The war veteran, who served in Europe and the Pacific during World War II, lived alone and had limited mobility.

A forensic scene examination established the fire started in the kitchen and the wooden farmhouse was quickly razed.

Allison’s death has been the subject of an open and active investigation for nine years.

The rubble left from Ronald Russell Allison's house in Te Karaka, where he died in January 2013. Photo / NZ Police

Soon after the fatal blaze, police appealed for information about a car they were seeking in relation to the investigation.

Police were interested in the movements of a blue Nissan March that had travelled extensively between Tauranga and Gisborne in the days before Allison’s death.

Then, in November 2020, police announced a $100,000 reward for information about the fire. It expired in April last year without being claimed.

In announcing the appeal, police said there was nothing to indicate the blaze had been an accident or due to an electrical fault.

They believed the fire was started intentionally to cause Allison’s death.

Police also revealed a forensic locksmith had proved the back door to the farmhouse had been unlocked.

They said it could only have been opened from the inside as the only key for it was inside the house.

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In an episode of TVNZ’s Cold Case, police said Allison had received a disturbing phone call on January 24 from a “person of interest” known to both Allison and his son John.

The call lasted 22 minutes and left Allison in an extremely distressed state.

His son told police the call had included “a little bit of a threat”.

The episode also featured information about an item of interest found on the lawn outside the home.

Allison served in the Army in World War II and fought in Italy, Greece and Japan. He also survived the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake.

He married his late wife Marie in 1953, and worked on the family farm most of his life.

He was a beloved family man, respected farmer and long-standing member of his community, police said.

A police spokesperson said the arrest came after significant work by investigating officers.