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.
Red Fox Tavern murder: Convictions handed down after 30 years msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photo: Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye/ 123rf
Father of two Chris Bush, 43, was gunned down at the pub in Maramarua, Waikato in October 1987, and the offenders took off with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, coins and cheques.
Mark Hoggart and another man - who has name suppression - are on trial in the High Court at Auckland, charged with murder and aggravated robbery.
They deny the charges and say police arrested the wrong men.
Detective Senior Sergeant Michael Hayward was one of the officers involved in the re-investigation of the homicide, dubbed Operation Lion, which began in 2016.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Christopher Stevenson, Hayward said Hamilton - who died in 2003 - was very closely looked at by the original police investigation team and the 2016 re-investigation team.
Red Fox Tavern murder trial: Detective says a former top suspect was not near the tavern in crucial hours before homicide
16 Mar, 2021 05:04 AM
5 minutes to read
Police recreation of Red Fox Tavern in 1987. Video / Supplied
A detective who investigated the infamous Red Fox Tavern cold case has told a jury a man who once was a top suspect did not have the window of opportunity to commit the crime.
Detective Senior Sergeant Michael Hayward has been cross-examined in a High Court trial about the plans and whereabouts of Lester Hamilton - a man who had bragged about being a suspect in the case.