Mongrel Mob boss hit: Man accused of shooting Daniel Eliu outside church revealed as Thomas Tahitahi

The man accused of gunning down Mongrel Mob boss Daniel Eliu outside a South Auckland church can now be named as Thomas Tahitahi.

Tahitahi earlier had his bid for ongoing suppression declined by the Court of Appeal and his lawyer Matthew Goodwin had sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

But when his case was called at the Auckland High Court on Wednesday, Justice Matthew Downs confirmed name suppression had lapsed.

He denies the charge and the trial is set to begin on May 27 next year.

Eliu, also known by the nickname Sa-Dan Notorious, had been boss of the gang’s “Notorious” chapter in Auckland.

Police earlier said Eliu appeared to have been “deliberately targeted” as he was fatally gunned down on the morning of December 17 in front of Papatoetoe Seventh-Day Adventist Community Church on Puhinui Rd, near Manukau City Centre.

Thomas Tahitahi, accused of carrying out a hit on Mongrel Mob boss Daniel Eliu in December 2022, appears at the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The 46-year-old had been attending a graduation for the Grace Foundation, a rehabilitation provider offering support to people on bail and home detention, among others.

Although Eliu wasn’t graduating himself that day, he had been in the programme for about six months.

The funeral for Eliu was held on December 28 with a massive motorcycle procession.

The group, which holds such events each Saturday, was waiting outside the church about 10am for a Christmas meal when the shooting occurred.

Eliu had been the subject of media attention multiple times prior to his death due to his own run-ins with the law.

His most high-profile crime, for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison, involved a 2006 knife attack and revenge kidnapping of a man whom Eliu suspected had “narked” on a gang-affiliated friend of his — allegedly telling police about the friend’s possession of a loaded pistol.

Using a boxcutter, Eliu slashed the victim’s face from his jaw to his hairline, which the Court of Appeal would later describe as “a particularly bad crime of its kind”.

He was convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.