A jury did not believe Anaru Morunga's stories and found him guilty of murder. Photo / NZME
A jury did not believe Anaru Morunga's stories and found him guilty of murder. Photo / NZME
This article discusses graphic violence and may be upsetting to some readers.
A blunt confession gave way to a tale so implausible, it collapsed under the weight of the evidence.
What Anaru Morunga first admitted to without hesitation, he later shifted to a fantastical narrative the jury found impossibleto believe, as they delivered guilty verdicts for murdering his ex-partner Jasmaine Reihana.
Morunga was on trial in the High Court at Whangārei on eight charges, including murder, related to the events surrounding Reihana’s death on September 8, 2024.
After being away at a four-day tangi, Morunga and Reihana returned to the home he shared with his mother, Suzanne Morunga, and her partner Michael Jones.
Jones became alarmed at Morunga’s agitated behaviour and when he briefly left the property to call police, Morunga slit Reihana’s throat.
Morunga told police interviewers she died in about 10 seconds.
Morunga then cleaned up the house using bleach, threw Reihana’s body in her car and towed it by tractor to the far end of the farm he worked on, near Ripiro Beach.
He then demonstrated for the court how he cut Reihana’s neck.
The Crown said Morunga had made up a “fantastical story” that he was being chased for days by gangsters, children were being raped at the tangi and there was a trigger man hiding in the car.
He believed Reihana was going to kill him so she could sell their son to the Mongrel Mob for his gene pool.
Crown lawyer Bernadette O’Connor dismantled all of Morunga’s story by providing CCTV, witness and forensic evidence that proved no one was following him, there were no gangsters at the tangi and there was no hidden floor in the car with a gunman, as Morunga had said.
Jasmaine Reihana had two children with Morunga and had been separated from him for some time.
O’Connor said he had been smoking methamphetamine for days and being under the influence of drugs was not a defence to murder.
“He will come up with anything that he can to get away with murder,” O’Connor said in closing statements to the jury on Friday.
“The fault for her murder lies solely and squarely at the feet of Anaru Morunga.”
Morunga’s lawyer, Arthur Fairley, said in closing that Morunga’s state of mind needed to be taken into account.
Jury takes two hours to return verdicts
The jury retired at 11.17am and returned with verdicts two hours later.
The jury were unanimous in finding Morunga guilty of murder, arson, dangerous driving and failure to stop.
They found him not guilty of aggravated assault.
Morunga had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.
Justice David Johnstone told the jury the evidence they had heard was particularly confronting in that it is “very rare” a defendant would walk a jury through how they killed someone.
Justice Johnstone said Morunga was entitled to a fair trial and in his opinion, “that’s what he had”.
The judge took time to commend the Reihana whānau for their conduct throughout the trial and acknowledged that no matter the outcome of the case, it did not change the fact “Jasmaine is no longer here with us“.
“You’ve played a very good and significant role in receiving the trial. Thank you,” he said to the whānau.
Morunga was convicted and remanded in custody until his sentencing in May.
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.
