Taygan gave evidence<\/a> that her father died in her arms.<\/p>\n\u2018His children were his world\u2019<\/p>\n
At sentencing, Adrianne described the loss of her husband, saying their quiet family home had been transformed by his absence and he was known by several nicknames.<\/p>\n
\u201cEuan wore a coat of many colours,\u201d Adrianne said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlue, Gumboot … Jim. Each represented a different part of who he was and the lives he touched.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the couple met in 1988 and built their life together on values of kindness, love and respect for others.<\/p>\n
Euan was not only her husband, she said, but her soulmate, protector and provider.<\/p>\n
Adrianne said he was a proud man who took care of himself and stayed fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis children were his world,\u201d she said and becoming a grandfather to seven mokopuna had brought a new level of joy to their lives.<\/p>\n
Adrianne said he helped everyone in the community and dressed as Santa Claus for local k\u014dhanga reo children.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe babies loved Santa,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren felt safe in his presence.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Euan]()
Euan Mackey, 59, was remembered for being a loving father, grandfather, husband and fan of country music.<\/p>\n
A lover of country music, Euan started his day with music, the first sound she heard in the house each morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy house is quiet now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many things I miss about Euan. His hugs, his voice, his smile and the life he brought into our home.\u201d<\/p>\n
She told the court she felt as if she had \u201clost my left hand\u201d, describing grief that touches every aspect of daily life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a simple Sunday. We were minding our own business. We hadn\u2019t done anything wrong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband died protecting our family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis absence is everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Nobody left untouched\u2019<\/p>\n
Euan\u2019s brother Thomas Mackey chose a different angle for his victim impact statement and called for calm across the remote community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nobody left untouched in Mangamuka.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas said many strained relationships had been left behind and meetings were held at the local marae to help bring peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want Mangamuka to regain its sense and safety of confidence it once was.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Euan\u2019s death was one of several killings to shake Northland at the time and highlighted what he saw as a dangerous normalisation of violence within the community.<\/p>\n
Northland recorded eight homicides for 2024 and nine in the first four months of 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important the seriousness of taking someone\u2019s life is recognised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe consequences will be long and lasting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas said Euan was known as Mr Fixit in Mangamuka and had final words for his community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot undo what happened but we can remember Euan. Support his wh\u0101nau and acknowledge the harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe, the hapu of Mangamuka, will continue to remember you.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Euan]()
Euan Mackey died at the remote location of Iwitaua Rd in the Far North. Photo \/ Google Maps<\/p>\n
The Crown said the extent of harm was immeasurable and pointed to five children aged under 10 who witnessed their grandfather\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact on them will be lifelong,\u201d Bosomworth said.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for the Davises submitted the act was spontaneous but Bosomworth said the attack was direct and aggressive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt only desists when Mr Mackey falls to the ground and even then, there was still force.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quinntinn\u2019s lawyer Nicola Manning said her client went to the property with no intention, was not the instigator and did not know Euan would be there.<\/p>\n
Manning disputed it was a home invasion as the killing occurred on a shared driveway and they had access rights to a paddock in the rear.<\/p>\n
![\"Life]()
Life sentences with minimum non-parole periods were handed to Denise Michelle Davis and Quinntinn Davis. Photos \/ NZME<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Arthur Fairley told the earlier trial Denise played a limited role; the Crown had considered her a party to the murder but at sentencing, viewed her as the mastermind.<\/p>\n
Fairley said Denise took issue with several aspects of the trial, maintaining she had not been drinking and there was no evidence she had.<\/p>\n
Pre-sentence report writers said the defendants showed a lack of remorse and Tana was the only one to express his thoughts to the Mackey wh\u0101nau in court.<\/p>\n
Tana wrote a letter of remorse and said through his lawyer Sumudu Thode that he acknowledged the harm he had caused through his actions. Justice Michael Robinson accepted his remorse as genuine.<\/p>\n
\u2018It was brutal\u2019<\/p>\n
Justice Robinson said he agreed with the jury\u2019s verdict and that Denise and Quinntinn had a shared understanding they would use the knives if necessary.<\/p>\n
The justice did not accept Manning\u2019s submission that they were at the site to access a paddock in the rear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is quite different to what happened here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The justice pointed out the brief moment Quinntinn put a vehicle into reverse and appeared ready to leave.<\/p>\n
But when his demand for an apology went unanswered, he told his passengers to \u201csend it\u201d as they got out of the car. <\/p>\n
Justice Robinson was also satisfied Denise had encouraged her husband to stab Euan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am quite sure you intended to cause bodily injury and you knew that stabbing him was likely to cause him death,\u201d the justice said to Quinntinn.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour assault was quick but it was brutal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was unarmed and he was being attacked by two people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The justice said Euan was a cherished husband, dearly loved father and grandfather and gave the wh\u0101nau the court\u2019s deepest sympathy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear his legacy will live on in all of you and his mokopuna.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quinntinn and Denise were sentenced to life imprisonment and Tana was jailed for 18 months.<\/p>\n
Quinntinn will be required to serve a minimum of 13 and a half years and Denise 10 years and six months before they will be eligible for parole.<\/p>\n
Shannon Pitman is a Whang\u0101rei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ng\u0101puhi\/Ng\u0101ti P\u016bkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.<\/p>\n
Join the NZ Herald\u2019s Open Justice team for Case by Case<\/a>, a video and podcast series examining the disputes and decisions making headlines across New Zealand. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The trial heard evidence of a growing grievance over a wh\u0101nau house by the Davises against the Mackey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[806,31468,8414,307200,2082,14641,424,307201,64571,4275,111,43,139,69,24182,3552],"class_list":["post-625189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-as","tag-brother","tag-couple","tag-euan","tag-for","tag-jailed","tag-life","tag-mackey","tag-mangamuka","tag-murder","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-unity","tag-urges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}