Justice for murdered 'local hero'

Paula and Mark McCutcheon in 2006 with Millie, now 8, and Lucy, now 5. Third daughter Poppie was born in August 2008. Photo / Supplied

In the tiny central Hawkes Bay village of Tikokino, in the newly renovated Sawyer's Arms Hotel, you'll find Nippy's Bar.

The few tourists stopping on State Highway 50 for a pint and a meal on their way up to Napier, or down to Wellington, probably think the name was chosen as a quirky reference to a shot of alcohol.

But the locals know the name pays homage to "local hero" Mark McCutcheon, who bought the hotel with his wife, Paula, a few months before his death and never got to see the finished renovations on the couple's dream project.

Paula McCutcheon and the residents of Tikokino, 50km southwest of Hastings, and of the surrounding rural villages where the 34-year-old farmer grew up got some closure this week when a jury found gang prospect Hulio Ataria, 23, guilty of his murder.

The father of three, nicknamed Nippy because he was a fast rugby player, had gone to the aid of a woman who was being beaten by her Mongrel Mob boyfriend outside the Sandford Arms pub in the nearby town of Ongaonga in January last year.

The gangster told Ataria to "deal to" Mr McCutcheon, who swore at him and struggled to open his gun case. Ataria stabbed him three times and Mr McCutcheon drove away.

He was later found dead in his truck, which had crashed through a fence about 1.5km away. Ataria is to be sentenced next month.

The mobster, whose name is suppressed, pleaded guilty early to assaulting a female and last May was sentenced to nine months' jail.

Mrs McCutcheon sat through each day of Ataria's seven-day trial. She has taken her three daughters to the family's bach in Porangahau to "get away from it all".

Of the verdict, she told the Weekend Herald: "I knew it would never bring Mark back but I said to myself, 'This is the start of our new life.' I believe Mark was a hero, I'm proud of what he did. I wish he never did it but I'm proud."

Detective Sergeant Brent Greville of the Hastings CIB said Ataria had been in and out of court since he was about 16 for offences including injuring with intent, burglary and firearms charges.

"We're very happy for the closure it brings Paula. It's a bit of a hollow victory. It's not going to bring Mark back."

Ataria's great-aunt Charlotte Ataria, who cared for him on and off until he was 13, has said he was "a good boy" who used to be a deacon at the Waipukurau Mormon church.

His mother, Victoria Stevens, was expelled from her son's first court appearance after she barked like a dog.

Ataria and his associates, from the Waipukurau area, were not regulars at the Sandford Arms but had gone to meet their girlfriends there, the owner said.

The small, one-storey pub has been for sale for about two years. It is on the market for $450,000 but the owner said Mr McCutcheon's death might have scared away potential buyers.

The farmer was not a regular at the tavern either but had gone for a couple of drinks after working on his own pub with his wife.

"He would always step up," Mrs McCutcheon said. "He didn't believe in any violence, especially towards women."

A "what you see is what you get kind of bloke", Mr McCutcheon was a "real people's person".

The old boy of Lindisfarne College in Hastings lived on his parents' beef and sheep farm in Tikokino until he was 23, when he bought a house in Waipukurau and lived with friends.

That same year, he and his brother Stephen bought their father's Ongaonga rural contracting business, McCutcheon Agricultural, which had previously been owned by their grandfather.

A couple of years later, Mark got together with Paula, a nurse, who already had a daughter, Millie, now aged 8.

The couple bought their first house in Ongaonga and had their first child together, Lucy, now 5, in 2005 before getting married a year later at the Porangahau beach house.

But the family were hit with tragedy months later when Stephen McCutcheon was killed as his quad bike collided with another vehicle near the brothers' business. A couple of years later, their father died of a heart attack.

The McCutcheons' youngest daughter, Poppie, now 18 months, was born in August 2008, about the same time the couple bought the Sawyer's Arms with big dreams to restore the old hotel, which had been closed since 2007.

The family moved into the hotel and had planned to open it as a bar and restaurant by April last year.

Mr McCutcheon's death in January ended those plans, and his wife's enthusiasm for the restoration vanished.

But with encouragement and support from friends and local businesses, which gave tens of thousands of dollars worth of materials as well as donating their time, the pub was opened nine months later, on Labour Weekend last year.

A photo of Mr McCutcheon with the words "our local hero" hangs in Nippy's Bar in his memory.

To add to the stress of renovating, Mrs McCutcheon was also trying to wind up her husband's contracting business, which was owed $66,000 by a millionaire landowner. Bob McVitty sent her a cheque the day after she revealed the outstanding debt on TVNZ's Fair Go.

Mrs McCutcheon says she is open with her daughters about their father's death. "We talk about him all the time and I explain that he is still with us."