Family plead for whereabouts of body as David Lyttle sentenced for killing Whanganui man Brett Hall

David Owen Lyttle stands in the court dock at an earlier appearance. Photo / RNZ

The family of a Whanganui man murdered in 2011 is calling for his killer to reveal the place he hid his body.

Halcombe man David Owen Lyttle, 54, appeared in the High Court at Wellington this morning for sentencing after being found guilty of killing close friend 47-year-old Brett Hall.

Lyttle told undercover police he'd shot Hall between the eyes in May 2011, burned any evidence, cut up his body, and then buried it in two places on beaches between Whanganui and Bulls. The murder followed a dispute over money.

Hall's body has never been found.

Justice Jill Mallon said she believed Lyttle had shot Hall, but there was no physical evidence to suggest he dismembered him or buried him where he said he did.

It would have taken "considerable skill" to do so with the Stanley knife and hacksaw Lyttle had, and would also have taken "an attitude to a dead human body that would not come naturally".

Justice Mallon said it was possible he lied to undercover police about where he buried the body because he still did not trust them with that information.

Hall was the best man at Lyttle's wedding, and Lyttle was building Hall's home for him. In the weeks before the murder, Hall began to suspect Lyttle was ripping him off, and the pair argued about this.

Justice Mallon said the killing was a "spur of the moment" attack as a result of the argument over money.

During the reading of several emotional victim impact statements today, Hall's family called for Lyttle to reveal where he'd buried the remains.

"I desperately want to lay him to rest," Hall's mother, Levona Joan Hall, said.

"You know where Brett is, please have the decency to tell us where he is."

Lyttle stared straight ahead with a strained look on his face as Hall read her statement, despite her at one point telling him to look at her while she spoke.

Hall described her son's close relationships with his family members, and spoke about how he was living in "7th heaven" on his block of land, where he was building his dream home and hoped to have a large orchard and a garden.

She carried the heavy weight of Hall's death with her for eight and a half years, right up until she heard the guilty verdict, she said.

Hall explained how the murder "destroyed" her life.

"When I would wake up in the morning, my first thought would be 'oh God, not another day'."

Hall's brother, Michael Hall, also called for Lyttle to reveal the location of the body.

"Why are you still keeping him from us?"

He said he had lost his "lifelong friend" and had sank into depression after his brother's disappearance.

Justice Mallon sentenced Lyttle to life imprisonment, with a minimum non parole period of 11 years.

The sentence included an uplift for not revealing the location of the body.

She also gave Lyttle a strike warning.

Brett Hall disappeared from his Whanganui property in May 2011. Photo / Supplied

How police caught David Lyttle

Lyttle was targeted three years after Hall's disappearance by a police operation called "Mr Big", in which undercover officers created a mock criminal organisation and promised him money and opportunities if he told them the truth about his friend's disappearance.

During his trial, Lyttle's defence lawyer claimed the confession was false, coerced as Lyttle saw a way to bring his family out of a dire financial situation by telling the crime boss exactly what he wanted to hear.

The sting began with Lyttle "winning" a fishing trip off the coast of Wellington, during which he became friendly with undercover officer Nick O'Neal.

During the next two months, Lyttle met with O'Neal more than 20 times to take part in mock criminal behaviour, from casing a gun store for possible burglary, to conducting drug deals in the Hutt Valley.

O'Neal, being questioned by Crown lawyer Michelle Wilkinson-Smith, said he spent about 73 hours with Lyttle in total, in which he mentioned trust more than 70 times, honesty 40 times, and loyalty more than 30 times.

Every interaction the two had was recorded.

Three months after they'd met, Lyttle was given a meeting with the head of the mock criminal syndicate, in which he confessed to killing Hall.

O'Neal had urged Lyttle to be honest and upfront prior to the meeting, and Lyttle said he had done that when they met up again afterwards.

He detailed the murder again to O'Neal after his meeting.