Four Fitus gang members guilty of murdering Head Hunter Charles Pongi in Auckland

Clockwise from bottom left: Co-defendants Vini Mahoni, Lika Feterika, George Mahoni, Vili Laungaue and Devonte Iakopo were jointly charged in the High Court at Auckland with the murder of Head Hunters member Charles Pongi, who was fatally shot during a large brawl at Pt England's Taurima Reserve in August 2023. Photos / Michael Craig

The leader of a lesser-known Auckland street gang and three fellow members have been found guilty of jointly participating in the murder of a patched Head Hunter during a proposed one-on-one fight that quickly descended into gunfire and chaos.

It took jurors in the High Court at Auckland five days of deliberation to reach the majority verdicts.

Justice Greg Blanchard told them late on Tuesday that 11-1 verdicts would be allowed, given the difficulties in reaching consensus on all charges.

The judge has now set a sentencing date of October 30 for Fitus gang leader Devonte Iakopo and members George Mahoni, Vili Laungaue and Lika Feterika.

The jury was unable to reach an 11-1 verdict on the other co-defendant: gang associate Vini Mahoni, the younger brother of George Mahoni.

The defendants were alleged to have been among a 22-car convoy that showed up at Pt England’s Taurima Reserve one Saturday afternoon in August 2023 alongside gang allies the Rebels.

There was supposed to be a fistfight between only Feterika and a Head Hunters member, but it looked more like an “armed insurgency” as the defendants and their mates descended on the park, Crown prosecutor Henry Steele said at the outset of the trial.

The Head Hunters quickly realised they were outnumbered and resorted to desperate measures, the Crown suggested.

CCTV shown repeatedly to jurors during the trial showed the Head Hunters signalling a masked man, who then ran to the field, got into a controlled shooting stance and opened fire.

Two mates of the defendants were shot. George Mahoni, wearing a bulletproof vest, then returned fire with a gun that Iakopo had supplied him, the Crown contended.

The Head Hunters-affiliated shooter has never been identified. But standing behind him was patched member Charles Pongi, who suffered a fatal gunshot wound.

Lawyers for each defendant acknowledged that they were at the reserve that day. George Mahoni’s lawyer acknowledged that he fired the fatal shots.

But lethal force was legally justified, defence lawyers said, after the unidentified gunman opened fire first.

Prosecutors disagreed, pointing out the group’s superior numbers and their decision to arm themselves before what would undoubtedly be a tense situation.

“Clearly, this was not going to be a clean fight and, from the Rebels’ and Fitus’ perspective, it was never meant to be,” Steele said during his opening address.

“They’ve got more men and, if that doesn’t work, they’ve got more guns – and bigger guns."

While not all the defendants had guns, they could all be found guilty if jurors believed they knew about the firearms and the likelihood they would be used, the prosecutor suggested.

“The Crown says they would have known ... given the frequency at which guns are possessed by the group,” Steele said. “If the Fitus were to gather in numbers, especially in these numbers ... inevitably there would be firearms present.”

The lengthy trial had been going on since August 25.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.

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