Shooting victim Sean McKinnon and his Canadian fiance Bianca Buckley. Photo / File
Shooting victim Sean McKinnon and his Canadian fiance Bianca Buckley. Photo / File
The grief-stricken partner of a man allegedly gunned down in their campervan says she is gathering her thoughts of the memories she has of her partner prior to Friday's incident.
Sean McKinnon was shot dead in the campervan he was sharing with his Canadian fiance Bianca Buckley while it wasparked at Te Toto Gorge, south of Raglan, about 3am on Friday.
Detective Inspector Graham Pitkethley says McKinnon's body has been returned to his family who, together with Buckley, remain in New Zealand.
"A post-mortem was completed over the weekend, and Mr McKinnon has been returned to his family.
"They, and his partner, remain in New Zealand for the time being and continue to receive support from Police and Victim Support.
"While they appreciate the support they have received from across New Zealand and overseas, they do not wish to speak with media at this time.
"His partner says she is focused on gathering her thoughts on the memories she has with Sean and the time they spent together before the tragic events of Friday morning."
As for their investigation, Pitkethley reiterated that they were still "especially interested" in any person who was in the area hitchhiking or walking along that road during Friday to make themselves known to police, "so we can eliminate those sightings from our inquiries".
"We are working through a large amount of information provided by the public so far, and would continue to ask anyone who has any information, no matter how small, to come forward.
"We have a dedicated team who remain focused on forming an accurate picture of the events of Friday, in order to get answers for Mr McKinnon's family and the wider public.
"This includes working to locate the firearm used, which remains outstanding, and conducting scene examinations and area enquiries across Waikato.
"For operational reasons we are not in a position to detail exactly where these enquiries are being made."
Young mum's quick escape
Meanwhile a Waikato woman says a hitchhiker police are seeking sightings of in relation to a shooting at Raglan was "quite forceful" about trying to get into her car.
The woman, who also had her child in the car, told 7 News she was aware of a shooting in the seaside town earlier that day and knew something wasn't right.
The young mother said she pulled over at the Whitikahu intersection where the hitchhiker wanted to get into her car.
"When he started to be quite forceful and tried to get into my car I thought 'no this is dodgy I need to get out of here'," she told 7 News.
The man then approached Whitikahu School on the outskirts of Hamilton to ask for directions, according to a post on a local Facebook page.
Family of shooting victim Sean McKinnon talk to media outside the Hamilton District Court on Saturday. From left is sister Emmeline, brother Lachlan and sister Mary McKinnon. Photo / Mike Scott
Another woman posted how her partner and others came across "a very strange character supposedly hitchhiking near Whitikahu School" about 4pm.
"They stopped to call police and the guy came up to their vehicle, he was walking funny and said he had chaffing, he was fiddling with something under his jacket.
"He then asked what the roads around the area were called and said he was going to his brothers [sic] farm, but when asked did not know where his brothers farm was or what road."
Armed police were at the scene a short time later.
Driving home from Auckland, Wallis told them all to get inside, which they already were.
"When I got home at 6.45 there were a doz [sic] patrol cars and helicopter. Could hear a loudhailer but I didn't hang around outside as the helicopter noise meant I couldn't hear anyway."
He said his 8-year-old also saw a man hitchhiking past their house on Whitikahu Rd about 4.30pm.
The farm worker'cabin where the man accused of killing Sean McKinnon was arrested. Photo / Natalie Akoorie
Wallis said in hindsight, it was "pretty scary to think he walked right past our gate".
While he appreciated the fact they did catch the alleged offender, he wondered why the public wasn't told until about 10am Saturday, nearly 12 hours after an arrest was made.
"It was a worrying night through to 10am Saturday when they announced they had arrested someone. It's my understanding the got him at 11pm so a simple post saying someone is in custody would have relieved a lot of people overnight.
After a manhunt, a man was arrested at a property at Tauhei, about 30 minutes northeast of Hamilton on Friday night.
The man, who was granted interim name suppression, appeared in the Hamilton District Court charged with multiple offences including murder.
