They were also found guilty of participating in an organised criminal group and wounding Wilkinson s friend Kyle Rowe with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The jury also found Moananui guilty of kidnapping Wilkinson and Rowe by taking them from Ashhurst to Wilkinson the night they were attacked. But the jury were hung on all charges against Dean Arthur Jennings and Jason David Signal, as well as the kidnapping charges against the Su’a brothers. Majority verdicts were required for all the guilty verdicts. Justice Helen Cull ordered a retrial on the hung charges.
Murray Wilson/Stuff
Police at the Bunnythorpe property where Codi Wilkinson s body was found in September 2019.
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The fifth defendant, Jason David Signal, is not a Mobster. Ash, who has been described to the trial as a high-ranking Mobster from the Taupō area, sat silently when he was asked to give an oath or affirmation to give true evidence. It was the same position he took when he was brought in for questioning on Wednesday. He was expected to talk about a robbery Rowe and Wilkinson allegedly carried out against a Bunnythorpe man. The Crown says Rowe and Wilkinson failing to share the proceeds of the robbery, $11,000 cash and 3 ounces of methamphetamine, led to them being violently kicked out of the Mob.
Although defendants usually have lawyers for charges as serious as murder, Moananui is representing himself. But lawyer Paul Surridge, appointed by the court to help him, told the jury on Friday Moananui was too unwell to be in court. Moananui had a skin complaint that had not yet been treated. It was so serious he had been unable to sleep for three days, Surridge said. “We hope it’s not something the other people [in the dock] can catch. “He needs to catch up on sleep and get some treatment for it.” Moananui appeared to have a bad rash on his arms, legs and scalp when he was in court on Thursday.
Wilkinson’s body was found 15 days after he went missing. The defendants are also charged with kidnapping Rowe and Wilkinson, wounding Rowe with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and participating in an organised criminal group. Jeremiah Sua’s lawyer, Chris Tennet, spent time quizzing Terry about her interactions with police. He noticed her talking to detectives outside court, wondered why it took her months to prepare a statement in 2020 and why she spent hours with police giving a statement on another occasion. Some comments in her statements were slightly different from what she said in court, he said. Terry said she had found the whole process of giving statements and evidence hard but she had not been coached in any way.