NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

David Tamihere faces jail recall

By John Weekes of Herald on Sunday and Jared Savage of New Zealand Herald
NZ Herald·
3 Mar, 2012 04:00 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

David Tamihere says he is at peace with himself. Photo / APN

David Tamihere says he is at peace with himself. Photo / APN

TVNZ has slashed footage from the Sunday programme and issued apologies following fallout from convicted killer David Tamihere's flight over a crime scene.

Tamihere, 58, will face the Parole Board after the current affairs show flew him over an historic Coromandel murder scene, in a possible breach of his parole conditions. He could be sent back to jail.

TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said Corrections' demand Tamihere attend a recall hearing was a surprise to Sunday staff. "The Sunday programme didn't realise the flight... might be a breach of parole.''

Editors had made changes to the show, set for broadcast tonight. "We've dropped all the footage relating to the flight,'' Richards said.

She said the broadcaster had also apologised to both the Parole Board and Corrections - and added the flight would have never happened had Sunday known it could lead to Tamihere being recalled to jail.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A Corrections spokeswoman said discussions with TVNZ began on Tuesday or Wednesday and TVNZ was co-operating with enquiries.

Tamihere was jailed in 1990 for killing Swedish backpackers Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen. On his release in 2010, Tamihere maintained his innocence. He will appear in Waitakere District Court on Tuesday and is likely to face a special Parole Board recall hearing in late April.

He has recently proclaimed his innocence in a Metro magazine article.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

His parole conditions state he cannot visit the region past Kopu and Whangamata without the written permission of his probation officer.

While he did not set foot on land - and only flew over the bush area - the Corrections Department has applied to the Parole Board to recall him to prison for breaching the special condition of his release.

The Parole Board declined to recall Tamihere to prison immediately, as he was not an "undue risk" to the public. But a special hearing will be held soon. "A recall hearing will be held towards the end of April, where the offender is required to attend in person, where the board will assess all aspects of the alleged breach," a Parole Board spokeswoman said.

Katrina Casey, general manager of the Corrections Department community probation services, said Tamihere had also been charged in court for breaching his parole conditions. He will appear in Waitakere District Court on Tuesday. Murray Gibson, Tamihere's lawyer, declined to comment.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Killer David Tamihere freed

14 Nov 06:44 PM
New Zealand|crime

David Tamihere: The freed killer

15 Nov 04:30 PM
New Zealand|crime

David Tamihere parole conditions relaxed further

29 Nov 07:34 PM
New Zealand|crime

Tamihere: Try me for murder again

26 Feb 04:30 PM

Documents released by the Parole Board show Tamihere has made good progress since being released from prison in November 2010 and a number of parole conditions have been relaxed since then.

The Coromandel exclusion zone condition was amended last November so he could visit family land there if "accompanied at all times by approved whanau members", with the written permission of his probation officer. He must travel to and from the property by the most direct route.

In his first interview since being freed, published in Metro magazine this week, Tamihere said he wanted to "take my sons there and walk them through the case ... I want to show them it was impossible I did it."

Tamihere claims he was framed by the police and let down by the Court of Appeal and now wants a retrial so he can be heard.

"When you go through the paperwork you think, 'How the hell did they get away with this?' Then when you look at it more, you think, 'You dirty sons of bitches'."

When Tamihere was arrested in 1989 he had been living in the Coromandel bush for 2 years, on the run after jumping bail while awaiting trial for the rape of a 62-year-old woman. After Interpol alerted police to the disappearance of the Swedish tourists, Tamihere was eventually charged with their murder.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He had previously served time for the manslaughter of a stripper he says he accidentally hit in the head with a rifle.

Tamihere was convicted of the murders on circumstantial evidence and at the time of his trial no bodies had been found. He denied meeting the tourists, although he admitted stealing their car and driving others around in it.

The Crown called on two trampers who said they saw a man putting up a tent in the company of a blonde woman, although initially they could not identify Tamihere from a collection of photos.

"I'd like to kick their balls up through their kidneys," says Tamihere of the men.

After his conviction, Mr Hoglin's body was discovered by pig-hunters in bush 73km from where police said the murders took place.

Mr Hoglin's watch was still on his wrist, contradicting the prosecution claim that Tamihere had stolen it and given it to his son.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Tamihere took his case to the Court of Appeal in 1992, but it ruled his convictions could stand

"Jesus Christ could have stood up at the Court of Appeal and said, 'Look, this guy didn't do it'," Tamihere told the magazine.

Now living in West Auckland with his partner of nearly 40 years, Tamihere is on a sickness benefit with lung problems and had a heart triple bypass six weeks after his prison release.

Tamihere said he is at peace with himself, but sorry for many things - although not for the murder of Mr Hoglin and Ms Paakkonen.

"I had nothing to do with this. But I can understand how upset [the victims' families] feel."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'No longer make sense': Kāinga Ora scraps 212 projects, faces $180m loss for halted plans

18 Jun 10:25 PM
New Zealand

Family's plea for answers four months after man's death at beach

18 Jun 10:24 PM
New Zealand

Bid to reopen bar closed for months divides community

18 Jun 09:33 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Family's plea for answers four months after man's death at beach

Family's plea for answers four months after man's death at beach

18 Jun 10:24 PM

Police do not consider Mikey's death suspicious; it's with the coroner now.

'No longer make sense': Kāinga Ora scraps 212 projects, faces $180m loss for halted plans

'No longer make sense': Kāinga Ora scraps 212 projects, faces $180m loss for halted plans

18 Jun 10:17 PM
Bid to reopen bar closed for months divides community

Bid to reopen bar closed for months divides community

18 Jun 09:33 PM
NZ Herald comments: The stories open for discussion today

NZ Herald comments: The stories open for discussion today

18 Jun 09:04 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP