Killer Beez founder Josh Masters at a police checkpoint in Ramarama in 2022. He now rides a quad bike having been shot and partially paralysed by his former friend, Tribesmen gang member Okusitino Tae, inset.
Killer Beez founder Josh Masters at a police checkpoint in Ramarama in 2022. He now rides a quad bike having been shot and partially paralysed by his former friend, Tribesmen gang member Okusitino Tae, inset.
Senior tribesmen member Okusitino Tae, who shot his former friend Josh Masters in 2019, has been released from prison.
Tae’s release comes with strict conditions, including an overnight curfew, drug and alcohol testing, and electronic monitoring.
The Parole Board voiced concerns about potential gang retaliation and public safety risks.
A senior member of the Tribesmen who nearly killed the leader of the rival Killer Beez gang has been released from prison despite the ongoing risk of retaliation between the former close friends.
Okusitino Tae shot Josh Masters with a 9mm semiautomaticpistol when the pair crossed paths at a motorcycle dealership in Mt Wellington in April 2019.
Masters, the president of the Killer Beez gang, collapsed onto the asphalt driveway pinned under his Harley Davidson which fell on top of him.
Tae stood over his defenceless victim, aimed at point blank range, squeezed the trigger again.
The Killer Beez were also a feeder group to the Tribesmen, a more traditional motorcycle club, which had a long association with the suburb of Ōtara.
Killer Beez president Josh Masters was sentenced on methamphetamine charges in 2012. Photo / Sarah Ivey
The lines between the gangs were so blurred that Masters, once described by a High Court judge as a charismatic leader with undoubted business acumen, also held a senior position in the Tribesmen at one point.
He was arrested in 2008 on methamphetamine and money-laundering charges, for which he was later convicted and received a sentence of 10 years and five months in prison.
Unfortunately, the harsh environment of prison proved an even more fertile ground for recruitment.
By the time Masters was released from prison in May 2018, the Killer Beez had grown to 312 members with a reputation as dangerous prisoners, with brutal attacks on other inmates and prison guards.
Once a ragtag group of childhood friends, the Killer Beez was now the fourth-largest gang in New Zealand.
In Masters’ absence from Ōtara, many of the original Killer Beez had graduated to the colours of the Tribesmen and re-established the gang’s dominance in their old stomping ground of Ōtara.
His homecoming was met with resistance from his former friends, and tensions flared with a number of shootings as Masters reasserted the Killer Beez as a fully-fledged motorcycle club with distinctive white patches.
Everything came to a head in April 2019, when Okusitino Tae shot his former friend at the Mt Wellington motorcycle dealership.
After several years of relative peace, the gang rivalry then resumed in 2022 in a series of 23 tit-for-tat shootings and firebombings across Auckland which threatened to spiral out of control.
While no one was seriously injured, there were concerns about the heavy firepower used by both sides and the risk of an innocent bystander being killed.
Eventually, the gangs negotiated a ceasefire and the truce has held since then.
Okusitino Tae at the Manukau District Court in 2019 shortly after handing himself in to the police. Photo / Doug Sherring
But the Parole Board is clearly concerned that the conflict could reignite once Tae leaves prison.
Six months ago, the 45-year-old was denied an early release from prison because of the risk he could be targeted in retribution from the Killer Beez.
“Our view is that it would not be safe to release Mr Tae to reside at [redacted],” the Parole Board wrote in October 2024.
“We consider that given [redacted] is a relatively small town and it will be soon known where Mr Tae is living that will likely create a potentially serious risk for him, and as a result, a risk for the wider community.”
Tae reappeared in front of the Parole Board at a hearing earlier this month where the three-person panel again raised the risk of inflaming gang tensions.
“The potential for retaliation and the impact that has on public safety remains a significant concern,” the Parole Board wrote following the April hearing.
“[But] that risk seems to us to have been mitigated as best it can be in the circumstances.”
Tae has been released earlier this week to “supported accommodation” under strict conditions for the next six months which include an overnight curfew monitored by an electronic bracelet, drug and alcohol testing, and not to associate with anyone from the Tribesmen or Killer Beez gangs.
Josh Masters, pictured in 2022, now rides a quad bike on gang runs after being left paralysed because of injuries suffered in a shooting. Photo / Brett Phibbs
A psychological assessment said Tae posed a “low risk” of committing further violent offences, although that risk would increase through any gang involvement.
Tae told the Parole Board that he had “pulled away” from the Tribesmen gang but the “final step” needed to wait until he returned to the community.
“The Board has explored Mr Tae’s risk of the safety of others as best we can,” the Parole Board wrote.
“There have been no events in the prison environment that lead to any concern on the part of the prison, and both his accommodation sponsor and [Corrections’ probation services] are alive to the elements of risk on his return to the community.”
For those reasons, the Parole Board was satisfied Tae’s risk to the safety of others can be managed with the restrictive parole conditions.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.
