Tamihere 'deserved new trial'

John Tamihere. Photo / Daily Post

Convicted double murderer David Tamihere, who is soon to be released, deserved a retrial years ago, says his broadcaster brother John.

David was convicted in 1990 of killing Swedish tourists Heidi Paakkonen and Urban Hoglin, who were last seen in April 1989 going tramping in Coromandel bush. Mr Hoglin's body was discovered in 1991 but Ms Paakkonen's has never been found.

This week, the Parole Board said Tamihere would be released on Monday week.

Yesterday, John Tamihere spoke about the announcement during a Radio Live session promoted as an exclusive with his co-host Willie Jackson. However, the Herald was able to speak to the broadcaster separately.

A number of callers asked him directly if he believed his brother had killed the pair. He said a retrial should have been ordered when Mr Hoglin's body was discovered in 1991.

"I can't be dispassionate. He's my brother, he has maintained his innocence all the way through this. I support him as my brother.

"I have to fall back on the evidence, it's as simple as that."

Despite backing his brother's innocence, Mr Tamihere, a former Cabinet minister, refused to be drawn on what their relationship was like. He had visited him in jail over the years, but he contact had been infrequent.

"Only when there was occasion to, and in support of his parole cases. You cannot put your life on hold as his wife and two children did. The whole family couldn't do that."

Mr Tamihere said his brother's physical and psychological health had inevitably been affected by prison.

"What's happened is, he's got arthritis, a few other complications from ageing in that environment ... so onwards and upwards ... He's got the opportunity now to try and reintegrate.

Later, Mr Tamihere told the Herald: "Will he be successful? We hope so."

The siblings have 10 other brothers and sisters.

Their parents, now both dead, had been devastated by the case, said Mr Tamihere.

But he said it was important not to forget the impact of two decades on the backpackers' families, who did not have their loved ones with them.

"Here's the other side of it. You see the Hoglin family in the paper - there's just no winners."

John Tamihere on...

David Tamihere: "He does like most other people who have spent long lags, he tries hard to reintegrate into society. Will he be successful? We hope so."

His nephews: "Any boys whose parents have been put away for any length of time do it tough and it leaves sort of an indelible etch in their history."

His parents: "Like all parents whose children get into difficulty, and major difficulty like this, it was tough... and them particularly, because they came from a generation where the very thought of a police car come around to your house drops the mana of the whole house. These days, it seems to be a badge of honour for some people."