Body find linked to 1982 killing

Investigators examining where the skeleton was found. Photo / APN

A nearly 30-year-old murder mystery may have been solved with the discovery of human remains by hunters in forest land.

The skeletal remains were found in the Matera Forest, 90km southeast of Rotorua next to Te Urewera National Park, on Sunday night.

Although police have not revealed who the remains belong to, they have said the body was found in the same area police searched several years ago for murdered gang member Hemi Tapson.

Mr Tapson was murdered by Tamiana Tamiana in July 1982.

Tamiana confessed to the killing and was convicted in July 1997, 15 years after the murder.

He confessed saying he wanted to be closer to his God.

He was sentenced to a mandatory life term of imprisonment.

Tamiana admitted he caused Mr Tapson's death at a Murupara gang house by cutting his throat and stabbing him.

Detective Sergeant John Wilson of the Rotorua police yesterday would say only that the body had been there "a very long time". He confirmed it was the same area police searched in the mid-1990s after Tamiana confessed.

He said two hunters discovered the remains while hunting in the Matera Forest .

Rotorua police investigators and Environmental Science and Research (ESR) staff cordoned off the area, which is about 10km south of Murupara.

Mr Wilson said police had an "inkling" who the body belonged to but were not prepared to confirm those suspicions at this stage.

"It's far too soon to come to any conclusions, only time will tell and we need to establish a positive identification."

The cause of death was unclear but police were treating it as suspicious.

"It would appear the [remains] have certainly been here a long time. There are things with the way it was discovered and the way it is positioned, that I can't go into, which would make us believe it was not a natural death."

Mr Wilson said there appeared to be a lot of questions as to why the body had not been discovered sooner, considering the area had been replanted only two years ago.

"We've got quite a few inquiries. One of those inquiries is speaking with the forest owners, talking to them about when [the trees] were harvested and the new trees were planted to see if that will help us at all."

Police said the discovery of the body was due possibly because of the weather and logging activity in the area.

He said the two hunters regularly hunted in the area and were surprised by what they had found.

"The hunters obviously didn't quite believe what they were seeing first off but then on closer examination, it was exactly what they thought they were seeing and they immediately called police."

The scene examination was expected to continue until this morning, when police hoped to remove the body for further identification.

"What we hope to do is recover this individual and in the long term return [the remains] to the family after a positive identification."