Cockle Bay blaze: 'Grinding halt' in case for two murder-accused over cause of death

Two men charged with murder after Wiremu Arapo died in an east Auckland fire have retained name suppression and a lawyer complained of major delays in the case.

The men from Papatoetoe and Mangere were charged with murder after the October 20 fire in Cockle Bay near Howick.

Arapo, 27, was found dead near a doorway of the fire-ravaged house. Two other residents were injured in the October fire on Minerva Tce and hospitalised.

"The ultimate issue in the trial is cause of death," defence lawyer Shane Tait told the High Court in Auckland today.

Tait said there was "a grinding halt in the preparation of the case" and an overseas expert would likely be required.

A Crown prosecutor said a relevant report was overseas to be peer-reviewed.

Resident Wiremu Arapo died and two other people were injured when the fire broke out. Photo / Supplied

One of the accused men is in custody but the other is on bail and voluntarily came to court today.

A medical certificate was presented for the second man to support his case for name suppression.

It wasn't immediately clear what arguments would be advanced to support name suppression requests.

Justice Sally Fitzgerald told Tait and the other defence lawyer, Jonathan Hudson, she wasn't inclined to keep granting interim name suppression without compelling reasons.

Name suppression will be argued on April 29.

A four-week trial is set to start on March 7, 2022.