Mistrial declared in Bob Kleiman murder trial

Police at a house in the Whangārei suburb of Onerahi on October 27, 2022, where Hikurangi man Bob Kleiman had allegedly been murdered the day before. Photo / Michael Cunningham

A High Court murder trial in Whangārei has come to an abrupt halt with a judge declaring a mistrial.

The trial for three people charged in relation to the alleged murder of Hikurangi man Bob Kleiman, started on June 11 and was expected to take about two and a half weeks. However, on Wednesday morning Justice Jane Anderson met in chambers with the lawyers involved in the case then declared a mistrial citing fair trial reasons.

Ike Wellington Kingi was 42 when he allegedly murdered Kleiman by shooting him at close range in the face at an unoccupied house in the Whangārei suburb of Onerahi, on October 26, 2022. Kleiman’s body was discovered the following day by the homeowner, who’d recently moved out but had reason to return to the property.

At the outset of the trial, the jury was told Kingi denied murdering Kleiman; that Kleiman had the 0.22 Rossi rifle from which the fatal shot was fired. Kingi claimed that the rifle was loaded, didn’t have a trigger guard, and went off accidentally while Kleiman was showing him its new homemade scope.

On trial with Kingi for lesser associated charges, which they also rejected, were his domestic partner Leonie Farrell, who was 32 at the time of the alleged murder, and a friend of the couple’s, Stacy Jamieson, then aged 36.

Farrell and Jamieson were each accused of being an accessory after the fact to murder, Jamieson with two counts of it, allegedly by tampering with evidence and hiding the firearm, which was not recovered. Farrell was accused of having assisted Kingi to avoid arrest by leaving town.

She was additionally charged with two counts of conspiring with Kingi to pervert the course of justice by trying to get two witnesses to change their statements.

Kingi’s counsel, Martin Hislop, told the jury the three accused were all friends of Kleiman, as was the homeowner. The group were at the house because Kingi and Farrell were planning to move in.

Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting.