Wife's frantic search for shot Kiwi

The wife of a New Zealander murdered in Jamaican capital Kingston frantically searched for him after hearing gunshots, a fellow guest says.

Tiki Stardust Steel Hunia, a 27-year-old Hong Kong-based IT consultant and English teacher, was shot during a robbery attempt on Tuesday night. He was with his wife, Nickie-Jean.

Gloria Hunia, mother of the slain man, said the couple had recently renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas and were on a second honeymoon.

The pair were sitting in the outdoor area of their guest house in the suburb of St Andrew, in Kingston.

An American woman who was also outside when the incident happened said two gun-wielding men entered the property, yelling and asking for "Angelo".

One then put the gun to her partner's stomach and demanded money, while the other snatched Mrs Hunia's cellphone and hit her when she protested, the woman told the New Zealand Herald.

"He (Mr Hunia) got upset because he wanted to protect her so he jumped on the person and they just fell into the bushes in the garden and started to fight," she said.

"At that point I just said, 'Okay, I have to get out of here'. So I ran. While I was running I heard shooting so I told the receptionist to call the police and then I went to hide myself.

"We were hiding in the room for a few minutes and then we walked out and his wife was frantically running around and looking for her husband."

They found Mr Hunia lying on gravel, wounded but breathing, behind a cottage, she told the newspaper.

She and three others helped carry him to a police car and he was taken to hospital but later died.

 

Gloria said Mr Hunia's wife thought he was ok – the gunshot had gone in through his arm - but it had actually gone into the side of his chest and had pierced his lung.

A cousin of Nicki-Jean's was flying from Los Angeles to Jamaica to be with Nicki while Tiki's uncle and brother had left late last night and were expected to arrive tomorrow, Gloria said.

Gloria told Radio New Zealand that another of her sons had rang her mother's house where she was staying to pass on the bad news.

Gloria said that when she answered he had asked to speak with his grandmother who began wailing after the news was delivered but couldn't tell Gloria what it was.

"I decided to grab the phone and ring my son back to see what the hell he told his grandmother," she told the radio station.

Ms Hunia's mother then told her what had happened: "It's Tiki – he's dead."

It still hadn't sunk in, Gloria told RNZ.

"It's still not real yet. I don't think it will be until they're back with his body."

Jamaican police spokesman Karl Angell told the Jamaica Observer Mr Hunia was taken to hospital but died while being treated. His wife was not injured.

Yesterday detectives interviewed the owner of the guest house and all the people present during the robbery, the Observer reported.

A watchman at the premises was also interrogated.

"Several top-ranked officers spent much of yesterday in a meeting as they tried to ascertain the identities of the two robbers."

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman Emma Reilly said New Zealand High Commission staff in Ottawa and the British High Commission in Kingston were helping Mr Hunia's family.

University friend Jackson Hill, who played in Mr Hunia's rugby team, said the couple always seemed really close. "They were never far from each other," he said from Melbourne yesterday.

They married in 2007 in his home town of Te Teko in Bay of Plenty.

They also lived in Wellington, where Mrs Hunia worked at Thorndon School, before moving to Hong Kong. There she worked as a kindergarten teacher and he was an IT consultant.

They had also lived in Korea, where he blogged about learning to say "my girlfriend is very beautiful" in Korean.

Thorndon School principal Bill Sutton said Mrs Hunia was a "very lively young woman" who spoke highly of her husband.

"They were a close pair."

The couple had a passion for travel, Mr Sutton said.

"They spent quite a lot of time in the East."

Although Mrs Hunia had only worked at the school for a few months, she had been "an integral member of the staff".

"She gave the school quite a lot of help when we had a group of visiting Korean students. Her background with that was great."

A friend said they had recently renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas and were on their second honeymoon.

Paul Cook, from Petone, lived at the university's halls of residence with Mr Hunia and said he was "just a true gentle soul".

"He was a giant of a man, maybe about 6ft 6in, and the most gentle person, who was completely against violence.

"I don't know why anyone would hurt him, I'm shocked. What a waste."

The radio station said Mr Hunia died in hospital and "high-ranking" officials were investigating, with the guesthouse watchman being questioned. No arrests had been made.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said Mr Hunia's death had been noted at the highest level by the Jamaican Government.

The ministry was working with the British high commission in Jamaica to bring his body home and had extended consular support to his wife and family.

Hine Dallas, mother of Trent - one of Mr Hunia's best friends and groomsman - said he was "whanau-orientated".

"He's a son that anyone would love, he just lit the whole place up."

Since the start of the year, 740 people had been killed in Jamaica, police said.

- By KELLY BURNS and GREER McDONALD, Dominion Post, MICHAEL FOX and MATTHEW BACKHOUSE, Stuff.co.nz and NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News