KEY POINTS:
The 51 year-old man charged with the murder and rape of Auckland hairdresser Marie Jamieson has appeared in the Kaitaia District Court and been given name suppression.
Ms Jamieson, 23, was last seen at a service station in Kingsland on February 10, 2001. Her naked body was found
nine days later behind factory buildings in Ranui.
The sickness beneficiary charged with her murder appeared in Kaitaia District Court this morning.
He was remanded in custody and will next appear in the Waitakere District Court on July 2.
At a media conference in Henderson this morning, Detective Inspector Steve Wood said the accused had been living in the Auckland area and recently moved to the Far North.
He was arrested in Kaitaia about 7.30pm on Thursday.
Mr Wood said the accused was not initially a suspect but had been included in the police inquiry since April. He described the arrest as a major milestone and "extremely satisfying".
Mr Wood said he began reviewing the 2001 case last November.
Matching an unidentified male's DNA found on Ms Jamieson's clothing has always been a core part of police investigations and Mr Wood confirmed that DNA would form part of the police evidence against the man.
"Although this is a major milestone in the investigation we recognise it is only part of a process that will now progress to the court - there is still a great deal of work to be done," he said.
He said further arrests were possible.
"We're not ruling out the possibility that other people will be charged."
Ms Jamieson's family today released a statement saying that they were "pleased for Marie's sake".
"It has been an agonising and heartbreaking seven years for our family and it is not over yet," they said.
"We are indebted to the police for the tremendous amount of effort they have put in to finding Marie's killer. We do not wish to comment further till after the trial."
Ms Jamieson's parents were overseas and did not want to comment further, Mr Wood said.
Ms Jamieson was socialising with friends at the Tonic bar in Newton shortly before her disappearance seven years ago.
She then went to a liquor shop in New North Rd and bought a bottle of the vodka pre-mix KGB.
She was seen on security tape at the Gull petrol station further down the road where she would have caught a bus to her Avondale home.
It is not known if she did catch the bus.
Police have previously said Ms Jamieson may have been dumped behind the factory six or seven days before she was found - meaning she could have been with, or held by, her killers for some time.
Police have also said she is likely to have been killed elsewhere and taken there.
Her clothing - a red T-shirt with black trim, a straight skirt and sandals - was next to her body, but the light blue Hello Kitty shoulder bag she had with her has never been found.
The police investigation has never identified the killer despite the efforts of detectives, extensive publicity and a $50,000 reward.
In 2003 police made a bid to get DNA samples from 20 "people of interest" to match to the profile but no fresh leads came of it.
After his review of the file in January, Mr Wood referred to the male DNA profile as the key part of the inquiry.
He also said he had met Environmental Science and Research scientists and identified several new pieces of forensic work that would be undertaken, the results of which could lead to other investigations.
- NZHERALD STAFF
