The third fire, on November 5, 2024, claimed Ian Moller’s life.
Mangu Kaha gang members Arden Neho, Reardon Kamaru and Henare Barber are now on trial in the High Court at Wellington, charged with arson and Moller’s murder.
Neho faces additional charges over the two earlier fires.
The Crown’s case is that Neho and Kamaru lit the fires to get their gang patches, under the direction of Barber, already a patched Mangu Kaha member.
Almost two years later, records of intercepted phone calls and the contents of a selection of text messages exchanged between the trio and their associates were presented in court by Crown prosecutor Anselm Williams and Detective Sergeant Chris McManus.
The texts were retrieved from phones police seized as part of their investigation into Moller’s death.
The texts include swearing, slang, and frequent references to “mangu” and “brother” – how Mangu Kaha members addressed each other – and allegedly show there were attempts to light a number of other fires in the weeks before the fatal blaze.
That included one in the early hours of October 19, 2024. The Crown claimed the texts suggested that didn’t go ahead because police were in the area that night.
“Yo this is the last day to get done my brother was meant to go down last night,” Barber texted Neho shortly before 8am on October 19.
“We did go till we got spot by the cop and I just made it home lastnight,” Neho responded.
The flats at Hanson Grove, Stokes Valley, where Ian Moller, 82, lived. He died after a fire at the property in November 2024. Photo / NZ Police
Barber responds: “F*** it was hot as last night.”
Three days later, on October 22, Barber again texted Neho in the early afternoon.
“Ready for the mess or what,” which the Crown claimed was a reference to lighting a fire.
At the same time, records show Barber was also texting a fourth defendant, Shyheim Aiga.
Aiga has already pleaded guilty to his involvement in the first two fires, but claimed he couldn’t take part in any more because he had heart trouble.
He texted Barber on October 19, saying he was at home resting.
“Yoza can you rest all day mangu and smash that mission tonight f*** I just wanna get it done and patch use up tomorrow,” Barber responded, adding, “I’ll sort Arden and reardon.”
“Dahm as much as I want to my brother I can’t do the mission tonight mangu due to my situation with my heart faark if I wasn’t in so much pain my I woulda been able to do it tonight my myself,” Aiga texted back.
“Yo my brother yo rest up my brother thank you for being honest,” Barber messaged.
Three days later, Barber texted Aiga asking, “Ready for the mess or what”.
When Aiga said he would need a couple more days because he didn’t want his health to get worse, Barber sent another text.
“Yo you might miss out on your korowai tbh my brother I’m going to get the bro do it tonight.”
On the day of the fatal fire, Neho texted Kamaru at 12.38am: “Yo my bro Ill let u now when on the way”.
Seven minutes later, Kamaru responded: “Zah my bro”.
At 1.22am, Neho texted back: “I let u know when we outside”.
Two hours after the fire, which started about 3am, Kamaru texted a family member: “Aunty, I’m out on ur deck no I’m not in trouble”.
Five minutes later he sent a second text: “I’m leaving soon just needd [sic] a safe spot to think”.
Five days later, on November 10, on the day of Moller’s death, Kamaru confirmed he was part of the gang, texting an associate: “I’m officially patched my gang”.
The trial before Justice David Boldt is now in its second week and is expected to take up to five weeks.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.
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