Audacious theft tops criminals' rap sheet

James Kapa was jailed yesterday for six years. Photo / NZPA

Despite having more than 420 convictions between them, the smash-and-grab burglary at the Waiouru Army Museum in December 2007 was something of a career highlight for Ronald Van Wakeren and James Kapa.

The audacious raid horrified the nation, whose anger grew to outrage when the pair were later paid a $200,000 reward for the safe return of the military treasures.

One of the medals was the VC and bar awarded to Charles Upham, the only combat soldier to be so honoured.

Describing the theft as a tragedy, Lord Michael Ashcroft, owner of the world's largest collection of VCs - he has more than 40 - offered the $200,000 reward for their safe return.

Three days later, Kapa approached Auckland lawyer Geoffrey Anderson asking him to negotiate the return of the medals. He refused.

Weeks passed and there seemed to be no progress in the hunt for the burglars. Police regarded Van Wakeren and Kapa as the prime suspects, but they didn't have the proof. Word was also filtering out in the criminal underworld. One who was listening was Danny Crichton, a former Black Power member, who was denied bail while facing methamphetamine charges and was in Mt Eden Prison - in the same wing where Van Wakeren was sent just days after the heist.

Crichton told the Herald that Van Wakeren made one set of medals available to him as a bargaining chip to get bail. Police say that Crichton paid for the medals, but he denied that.

"I have good knowledge of the criminal world. I know who's who in the zoo. I know first hand that he is the only man who could have pulled this off. The people involved were professionals. They were not pot plant thieves or street kids."

Criminal barrister Chris Comeskey - lawyer for both Crichton and Van Wakeren on an earlier deal involving a Goldie painting - was approached to negotiate a deal with police. On January 17, his junior counsel Jesse Soondram picked up a set of medals after an Avondale storage locker hired by Kapa was accessed.

The following day, the set was returned and the police withdrew their opposition to bail for Crichton. He was released and discussions with Comeskey continued. According to a pre-trial ruling from Justice Tony Randerson, Comeskey told police he was acting on behalf of people who wanted to return the medals for the reward money. He said Crichton had "moved to the side" and his clients were "trying to keep the medals away from the Headhunters gang".

Police asked for photographs proving the medals were safe. During this time, they kept Kapa under surveillance. He was seen in Comeskey's chambers twice leading up to the return of the medals.

On the second occasion, late at night, Comeskey sent an email titled "medals return agreement" to the Police Commissioner. The contract said the medals would be returned on payment of $200,000.

The police put the money into the trust account of law firm Russell McVeagh, to be released only when the medals were safe. Phone records show Comeskey and Kapa were texting and calling each other before the exchange, and the locker in Avondale was again accessed.

On the return of the medals, Comeskey was hailed a hero in the media. No mention was made of Crichton until the Herald revealed his role the following week.

Even with the return of the treasures, many feared the culprits would never be caught.

A month later, TV3 presenter John Campbell had an exclusive interview with one of the men claiming responsibility for the medal theft. Going by the name "Robert", the hooded man appeared in front of a blood red background and apologised to the nation for the high-profile theft.

Campbell later apologised for failing to tell viewers Robert was an actor, re-enacting a transcript of an earlier, taped conversation with the real thief.

Little did Campbell know that the controversial interview, in which he guaranteed Robert anonymity, was to be crucial to the police case.

After the interview aired on February 21, 2008, police seized CCTV footage from the Duxton Hotel which showed Campbell and fellow Campbell Live staffers Carol Hirschfeld and Ingrid Leary entering and leaving the hotel that afternoon. The security cameras also caught Kapa.

When interviewed by police, Campbell refused to identify Robert but said he had taken steps to ensure that Robert was the real thief.

He asked Robert to tell him something that only the perpetrator would know - which Campbell said he did with "great gusto" - then verified that with Comeskey by telephone.

After the furore of the Campbell interview, all seemed to go quiet in the hunt for the medal thieves. But eight months later, the police, led by Detective Inspector Chris Bensemann, called a press conference to announce they had arrested Van Wakeren and Kapa.

They were the prime suspects from early on. But the police case was circumstantial. The "king hit" was when Campbell agreed to give evidence about his interview. While refusing to directly name Robert, the TV3 host promised to give a statement that would identify Kapa when heard alongside other police evidence.

Otherwise police were relying on circumstantial evidence such as:

* A speeding ticket issued to Van Wakeren in Cambridge as he and Kapa drove to Waiouru.

* CCTV footage of the pair in a BP station near Taupo.

* Storage lockers hired by Kapa under a false name that were used when the medals were returned.

* Footprints from the crime scene that showed one of the thieves had a distinctive walking gait, such as Kapa has.

* Analysis of computer hard drives showing Van Wakeren was researching military themes on the internet, including VC medals.

* ESR analysis finding that a metal threaded rod used to break into the museum had identical tool marks to a piece of wire at Van Wakeren's house.

Soon after Campbell agreed to testify, Van Wakeren pleaded guilty to the medals burglary and unrelated fraud charges. He was sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison and has paid back his $100,000 share of the reward money.

Just this month, Kapa pleaded guilty, and yesterday he was sentenced to six years for the burglary, on top of another nine years for money laundering and fraud.

He has 179 dishonesty convictions and must serve six years and nine months of the 15-year sentence. Judge Graham Hubble ordered him to repay his $100,000 share and also lifted the secrecy surrounding New Zealand's most high-profile burglary.

BURGLARS STOPPED BY POLICE BEFORE RAID
A game of cat-and-mouse between police, the criminal underworld, lawyers and TV presenters led to the arrests of James Kapa and Ronald Van Wakeren.

But the pair had actually been stopped by police as they were on their way to break into the museum.

Driving his Audi down SH1, Van Wakeren was pulled over near Cambridge for speeding.

The delay didn't seem to slow them down and two hours later they were filmed by a security camera at the BP garage in Wairakei, just north of Taupo.

They struck the museum at night. The raid was executed with discipline and precision, leaving few clues behind. In and out in just four minutes.

The pair jemmied open a door on to the mezzanine floor of the museum, tripping the alarm.

Dodging security cameras, they traversed a flight of stairs and made a 30m dash across the floor to smash the glass case and grab the medals.

Instead of going back the same way, they headed for a fire door opening to a waiting getaway vehicle.

Security-camera images show that the pair stopped in Taupo the day after, having a big breakfast in the sunshine. They even checked the boot of the car - apparently to look at the medals.

Phone records show they drove north to Auckland, and hid the stolen goods in a locker.