Dead man no angel, court told

In the last month of Hemi Hohepa's life, members of two different gangs hunted him after "dodgy" methamphetamine deals went wrong, a High Court jury was told in Rotorua yesterday.

One of Mr Hohepa's best friends, Tijay Nikora Witoko, 21, is on trial before the jury and Justice Patrick Keane for his murder.

The 27-year-old man's body was found in the Whakarewarewa Forest behind Scion on October 20, 2007, with a single stab wound in his abdomen.

He was last seen on the evening of October 17, when Witoko picked Mr Hohepa up from his brother's Rotorua flat.

During the opening of Witoko's trial yesterday, crown prosecutor Shane Walsh said Mr Hohepa was a drug dealer who often dealt in "dodgy" drug deals, taking money from people for methamphetamine and either not giving them the drugs or not paying the supplier.

"What you will hear was that he was no angel. He was known to be involved in the dealing of drugs in Rotorua for the Mongrel Mob. . . They were not straight forward deals. He upset a lot of people," Mr Walsh said.

"This caused him to have a few problems with the people he ripped off from time to time."

Mr Walsh told the jury, Witoko and three friends took Mr Hohepa from his home in the early hours of October 18, 2007 because he had ripped them off.

Witnesses will say Witoko admitted stabbing him, Mr Walsh said.

He then allegedly left him to die in bracken in the Whakarewarewa Forest, near a Maori bathing pool.

His body was found by a woman two days later.

Mr Hohepa's brother, Raymond Hohepa, yesterday told the court in evidence his brother was often ripping off people during drug deals.

"He was in pretty deep, ripping people off and all that kind of caper," he said.

However, on the night Hemi was last seen, Raymond Hohepa said he was woken up about midnight by Witoko, who had turned up wearing a Mongrel Mob tee-shirt.

They were best friends who often smoked drugs together and were prospects for the gang, he said.

The pair had a civil conversation and his brother willingly left with him, Raymond Hohepa said.

Under cross examination by Witoko's lawyer, Jonathon Temm, Raymond Hohepa said he never saw his brother get into the Nissan Terrano Witoko arrived in, but heard two doors shut before it drove off.

He also said there were a lot of gang members seeking his brother out for dodgy drug deals.

"I told him he had to watch himself. People had started to come around. You just knew Hemi was ranking [ripping off] people," he said.

In the last month or so of his life, a Black Power member and two groups of Mongrel Mob members had turned up looking for Hemi Hohepa, the jury heard.

One occasion Hemi Hohepa was chased upstairs by a gang member with a knife and locked himself in his bedroom, Raymond Hohepa said.

A gang member took Hemi Hohepa's Mitsubishi V3000 car as payment for drugs.

Another time, he was told to pay up "or he would be killed", his brother said.

"The message was if he didn't pay the money they would kill him," he said.

Twelve witnesses will be giving evidence for the Crown during the trial, which is set down for four days.

- NZPA