Murder charge in Whangārei park shooting, accused still in hospital

Yvonne Chapman has been described by those who loved her as a beautiful person.

The man who allegedly shot a woman in a public park almost four weeks ago is yet to appear in court in person.

Yvonne Chapman, 66, died after being shot at the Beach Rd public reserve in Onerahi, Whangārei, on February 27.

Not long afterwards, the man accused of her death suffered injuries and has been in hospital since.

A charge of murder was laid in the Auckland District Court on March 4 and he was formally remanded in custody, although he was in hospital.

On Friday, the man – who has interim name suppression – was due to appear in the High Court at Whangārei to enter a plea but his lawyer, Luka Grbavac, told the court he had been unable to take instructions from the defendant.

Justice David Johnstone mentioned the lack of clarity thus far around the procedure for the man to appear in court.

Under section 36 of the Criminal Procedure Act for category four charges such as murder, a defendant must appear physically in the District Court before being transferred to the High Court.

“He still has not been put before the courts in the appropriate way,” Justice Johnstone said.

Crown lawyer Bernadette O’Connor said some research would be undertaken in terms of what constituted a first appearance.

She advised the court that detailed medical records would need to be provided before the next appearance so the court would know how to proceed.

Discussions were held around name suppression and hardship to people linked to the defendant. The judge indicated the threshold did not appear to have been met.

However, he granted interim name suppression for at least two weeks and remanded the man in custody until his next scheduled appearance for a case review hearing on May 23 in the High Court at Whangārei.

Despite no plea being entered, a three-week trial date is being set for February 2027.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.