Family plea for help to identify father's killer

The family of homicide victim John Rowe today pleaded with the people of Opotiki to help find their father's killer.

The 78-year-old former teacher's battered body was found in his bedroom at his home in the eastern Bay of Plenty town on Tuesday morning.

A funeral service for Mr Rowe was held at St Stephen's Anglican Church in Opotiki this morning.

This afternoon his daughter, Wendy Rowe, made a plea for someone in the community to identify the killer.

She said her father had been brutally bashed to death in his bedroom, in his own home and in his own community as he lay asleep.

"Our father felt safe living in his house here in Opotiki and he should have felt safe," she said.

"He was 78 years old. He lived alone and we can never recall a time when he would ever have set out to hurt anyone.

"Both my brother and I grew up in our parents' home in Windsor Street where our Dad died. It was our family home and it holds lots of great memories," Ms Rowe said.

"My brother and I urge members of the Opotiki community to please help the police find whoever is responsible for murdering our Dad."

Inquiry head Detective Inspector Rob Jones said the extensive investigation was continuing.

"Police continue their examination of the scene at 33 Windsor Street which is expected to last another two to three days and a number of persons have been interviewed in an attempt to identify if they or anyone they know has any knowledge regarding the attack on the victim."

Meanwhile, the brother of murdered schoolteacher Lois Dear said he was disappointed at the lack of public outcry over the killing of Mr Rowe.

Harley Dear said Mr Rowe's murder ranked alongside his sister's violent death in her Tokoroa classroom in July 2006.

When his 66-year-old sister was bashed to death there had been "a huge outcry", including street marches and a town rally.

But there had been no such reaction to Mr Rowe's killing six days ago.

"You'd expect the same kind of outcry if people were really disgusted with this thing," he told The New Zealand Herald.

"I'm just wondering why we haven't had any sort of national disgust."

Mr Rowe taught mathematics at Opotiki College, in eastern Bay of Plenty, for 18 years before retiring in 1984.

He had lived alone since his wife died 17 years ago, and is survived by two adult children.

Ms Dear also lived alone, and was murdered in her Strathmore School classroom as she prepared for the first day of a new term.

Her killer, Whetu Te Hiko, 23, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years.

-NZPA