There was absolute silence in the High Court at Auckland as two men were sentenced to life in jail for the Red Fox cold case
There was absolute silence in the High Court at Auckland as two men were sentenced to life in jail for the Red Fox cold case 7 May 2021
Mark Joseph Hoggart and an accomplice, who has name suppression, were sentenced today for the 1987 murder of Christopher Bush at the rural Waikato pub.
The two men, each flanked by a Corrections Officer, stood quietly in the dock as Justice Woolford handed down their sentences.
Detective Senior Sergeant Michael Hayward, who was involved in reinvestigating the case, says the sentences have brought relief for the Bush family and all the investigators who have worked on the case across the past 34 years.
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Mark Hoggart and another man - who cannot be named - were on trial in the High Court at Auckland earlier this year, charged with murder and aggravated robbery.
The men were arrested in 2017, after police began reinvestigating the high-profile cold case in 2016.
It was the third-time-lucky for the investigation team: Hoggart and the other man had been considered the prime suspects in the earlier investigations, but there was never enough evidence to arrest them and lay charges.
During the trial, the Crown said the case against the two men was largely circumstantial - but the evidence pointed to them being the heavily disguised offenders who burst into the tavern late on the night of 24 October 1987.
Please attribute to Detective Senior Sergeant Albie Alexander, Counties Manukau Police:
Police acknowledge the sentencing today for the two men responsible for the murder of Chris Bush and aggravated robbery at the Red Fox Tavern during Labour weekend, 1987.
This concludes a 34-year-old case which was never far from the mind of the Bush family or Police investigators.
Counties Manukau CIB staff, led by recently deceased Detective Inspector Gary Lendrum, set about reviewing the investigation in 2016 following new information coming to Police’s attention.
The investigators worked tirelessly on this historical case, ultimately leading to the arrest and charging of two individuals in 2017.