Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Father of two Chris Bush, 43, was gunned down at the pub in Maramarua in October 1987 and the offenders fled with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, coins and cheques.
Mark Hoggart and another man with name suppression were found guilty after a seven-week trial in the High Court at Auckland earlier this year.
This morning, Justice Woolford sentenced both men to life imprisonment for murder. They would be eligible for parole after serving 10 years in prison.
The unnamed man has been sentenced to a concurrent eight-year jail term for aggravated robbery, while Hoggart has a concurrent seven-year sentence.
Two men jailed for life, 33 years after Red Fox tavern murder Fri, 7 May 2021, 10:43AM
Christopher Bush, 43, and a father of two, was shot dead in October 1987. (Photo / Supplied)
Two men jailed for life, 33 years after Red Fox tavern murder Fri, 7 May 2021, 10:43AM
The widow of slain Red Fox Tavern publican Christopher Bush has welcomed a sense of relief and justice after the two culprits were jailed.
Mark Joseph Hoggart, and a second man with name suppression, were found guilty in March of aggravated robbery and the murder of father-of-two Bush.
The pair will be eligible for parole after serving 10 years in prison, as the law requires they be sentenced according to penalties available in 1987 when the murder happened.
The widow of slain Red Fox Tavern publican Christopher Bush welcomes the life sentences given to her husband s killers - 33 years after his murder.
The widow of slain Red Fox Tavern publican Christopher Bush welcomes the life sentences given to her husband s killers - 33 years after his murder. 7 May 2021
Gaye Bush said today s sentencing brought an end to a painful chapter of her life.
Mark Joseph Hoggart and a second man with name suppression were found guilty in March of aggravated robbery and murder.
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The law requires the men be sentenced according to penalties available in 1987, when the murder happened.
DAVID WHITE/STUFF
Soafa Niumagumagu has denied the charges. The court has previously heard from a number of witnesses who said the defendant had stabbed his ex-wife, and Kaisala had gone to her aid. Niumagumagu then ran Kaisala down with his car, and she fell to the ground “like a ragdoll”, worker David Gray said. Kisha told the court a number of Kaisala’s bones were broken, including vertebrae in her neck, rib, pelvis, her left arm, and pelvis. There were lacerations to her liver and she had multiple brain bleeds. Under cross-examination, Kisha said the lethal injury was a spinal cord transection – the separation of the head from the neck.