Trio involved in Bob Kleiman’s murder sent to prison

Bob Kleiman was shot and killed by Ike Kingi who was sentenced in the high court at Whangārei today. Stacy Jamieson and his girlfriend Leonie Farrell were also found guilty of perverting/conspiring against the course of justice. Photo / NZ Herald Composite

Bob Kleiman was a devoted friend, son, brother, father, and grandfather.

He was also a pillar of strength for his family and when he failed to return home one night in October 2022, they knew something was terribly wrong.

His body was eventually found in an empty house in Whangārei, sparking a two-and-a-half-year-long wait for justice that came to an end today as his family watched his murderer, Ike Wellington Kingi, sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 11 and a half years.

Kleiman’s daughters and granddaughters clung to each other in the High Court at Whangārei as they confronted not only the man responsible but his accomplices, Leonie Farrell and Stacy Jamieson, for their beloved Pop’s death.

“He was like my second father. Losing him was one of the hardest days I’ve ever experienced,” said one of Kleiman’s granddaughters in court.

An immigrant from the Netherlands since 1982, Kleiman had dedicated his later life to caring for six children and creating a home of stability, his family recounted.

They described him as a selfless, caring man, always putting others before himself, especially the children in his care.

The young victims of 44-year-old Kingi, 33-year-old Farrell and 37-year-old Jamieson all expressed their deep, unbreakable bond with Kleiman, their lives now shattered and torn apart.

“Bob was my only support. I knew I could call him at any time if I ever needed help,” one of his daughters tearfully told the court.

“The agonising pain of losing my dad has affected me mentally and physically, causing memory loss and suicidal thoughts,” she added, impacts all the girls were experiencing.

One granddaughter, who had been living with him for the past five years since her own father’s death, spoke of the comfort he provided.

“He mended the pieces of my broken heart. Losing him felt like losing my father all over again,” she said.

The family who were all in the care of Kleiman at the time of his death. Photo / Supplied by Jose Kleiman

After one aborted trial in June 2024, the jury at a second jury trial in November found the trio guilty of their respective roles Kleiman’s death.

Justice David Johnstone sentenced Kingi for murder, two charges of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, Jamieson on three charges of wilfully perverting the course of justice and Farrell for two charges of conspiring to pervert and one of wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The full and final events of the murder were detailed in open court.

‘There’s been an accident’

On Wednesday, October 26, 2022, Kingi and Farrell were renovating a property on Edge St in Whangārei where they intended to move into with their seven-week-old baby.

Kleiman was there helping his friends fix up the house but at around 7.30pm Justice Johnstone said Kingi became upset at Kleiman for some unknown reason and shot him in the head.

Jamieson was in the shed and Farrell was outside in a Nissan Navara.

Police near the house on Edge St, Whangārei conducting the homicide investigation. Photo / Mike Cunningham

Kingi continues to maintain the shot was fired by accident but Justice Johnstone said after expert evidence was presented, that was a lie.

“The expert evidence was the muzzle of the gun was in contact with Mr Kleiman’s face at the time it fired,” Justice Johnstone told Kingi.

“I infer for some reason you were upset at Mr Kleiman and decided simply to shoot him.

“Given your explanation of the shooting as something that happened while you were in the process of sitting down on that couch, I consider it to be a lie made up because you know how it actually happened.”

CCTV caught the trio leaving but Jamieson returned, placing a sheet over Kleiman’s body, a bathmat over a bloodstain and jammed the door so no one could enter.

Jamieson also took the .22 Rossi rifle used to kill Kleiman that police have still been unable to locate.

Farrell took Kingi to a friend’s place in Mangonui to hide and then travelled through to Kaitāia where she called her friend who owned the Edge St house and said “there had been an accident”.

Bob Kleiman of Whangarei was murdered 26 October 2022 by Ike Kingi. Picture supplied by sister Jose Kleiman

That friend alerted police, triggering the discovery of Kleiman’s body, almost 24 hours later.

While in Kaitāia, Farrell made a number of phone calls about the shooting including one seeking legal advice.

Farrell went and spoke to Whangārei police two days later and said there had been an accident.

Justice Johnstone accepted at that time, Farrell did not know whether the theory of the accident was untrue.

Five days after Kleiman was shot, Farrell assisted in handing Kingi into police.

The perversion and conspiracy didn’t end there though.

Once in custody, Kingi was recorded on prison phone calls spending significant time speaking with Farrell attempting to have their friends in the Far North change their police statements.

Meth and a lack of sleep

It was raised in court both Kingi and Jamieson had methamphetamine addictions at the time.

Lawyer for Kingi Shannon Litt submitted a report from a doctor that meth was likely to have impacted Kingi’s sleep and affected his judgment.

Farrell’s lawyer, Annabelle Ives submitted her offending was at the lower end of the conspiracy scale as she had willingly gone to police and also taken Kingi into the police station.

Justice Johnstone acknowledged Kingi was the ringleader and sentenced Farrell to six months’ home detention and Jamieson to 12 months’ home detention.

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.