A 36-year-old has appeared at Hamilton District Court today charged with the murder of Ngaruawahia man Mitchell Curtis Rehua Paterson, who was found dead at McLaren Falls in Tauranga more than a week ago.
The Hamilton man, who has been granted interim name suppression, faces two charges of unlawfully detaining Paterson and murdering him.
Paterson, 26, was found dead in water below the McLaren Falls bridge about 11.30am on Friday 12 July.
The man appeared before Judge Philip Connell. He was remanded in custody and ordered to reappear on 7 August at Hamilton High Court.
He is the second person to be charged in relation to Paterson's death.
James Lee Green, 27, of Rangiuru in Western Bay of Plenty, earlier appeared charged with being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Paterson by helping dispose of his body in order for another man to avoid arrest.