Three men have been jailed for life for the murder of South Canterbury man Anaru Moana.
By Adam Burns of RNZ
A jury found Hayden Burt, Aaron Boden and Cody Boyes guilty of murdering Moana at a Christchurch High Court trial before Justice Gordon.
Boyes' sister Korina was found not guilty of murder and the lesser alternative charge of manslaughter but guilty of injuring with intent.
A fifth person, Joseph Cropley, was found not guilty of kidnapping and injuring with intent.
Moana, 37, disappeared in December 2021 and his body has never been found, despite extensive police efforts.
Burt and Boden were also found guilty of kidnapping and injuring with intent.
On Wednesday, Justice Gordon sentenced Burt, Boden and Boyes to life imprisonment.
The sentences included a minimum non-parole period of 11 years and 10 months for Burt and Boden and 10 years for Boyes.
Korina Boyes was sentenced to one year's supervision.
Burt and Boden were also sentenced to 11 years and eight years respectively on earlier drug offending charges, with the terms to be served concurrently.
The two men were sentenced to 20 months' jail for kidnapping and injuring with intent.
During the five-week trial, the Crown argued Moana was lured to the Kelceys Bush reserve near Waimate and ambushed, the supposed victim of a revenge attack.
Prosecutor Shawn McManus said Moana fled for his life and climbed a tree in the reserve.
Two shots were fired at Moana in the tree. When he fell he was attacked on the ground.
The court heard that Boden hit Moana with a spade.
The attack was thought to have been in retribution after Moana and an associate stole a large amount of methamphetamine and cash worth about $25,000 from a car in Ōamaru three months previously.
The jury heard that a sum of $60,000 was stolen, but the figure was corrected at Wednesday's hearing.
Jurors heard how Moana's associate and former roommate Heremaia Repia-King was left "battered, bruised and bleeding" after a group of men violently attacked him over the theft.
Now in custody, Repia-King was called as a Crown witness and told the court how he sustained small stab wounds on his forearm and thigh after one of the attackers took his Stanley knife.
Repia-King was warned he had 16 weeks to pay the debt.
Two victim impact statements from members of Moana's family were read to the court by Justice Gordon.
Heart-breaking details, which were suppressed, about the affects the murder had on the whānau were heard in a statement by the mother of Moana's children.
Moana's sister said a strong family member had been taken from them.
"He was a son, father, uncle, nephew and most beloved brother," the court heard.
Gordon continued: "She says she wants her brother's bones back, so they can rightfully put him to rest. It seems clear now tragically that will never happen."
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