Editorial: Swift work by CIB staff

OPINION: The swiftness with which the New Plymouth CIB effected three arrests in the Dean Stuart Browne homicide case was impressive.

Most of Taranaki woke to the news on Saturday morning that a homicide investigation had been launched following the grizzly find of a bound body, dumped in a Vogeltown carshed. The owners of the garage had no idea who the dead man was and neither did Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward when he was called to the scene on Friday.

News of the murder inquiry and subsequent pleas through the media for help to identify the victim made for a chilling start to the weekend. Being told that the alleged killers were still on the run in our patch heightened the unease.

The case-hardened head of the bureau gathered his troops in Drake St and together they began the painstaking task of solving the city's first homicide since Peri Niwa was found dead at a Moturoa house in November 2008.

By Saturday afternoon they had their first break when officers working at the scene spotted two suspects drive past in a white Toyota Corolla. Why they were suspects has still not been disclosed but their presence at the scene was a stroke of fortune.

They fled and their car was later found at an inner city address where a third man was arrested.

Mikhail Rafael Pandey-Johnson, 23, of Auckland, and Karl TeAngiotu Nuku, 18, of Palmerston North, were still at large on Monday morning but by lunchtime both were in custody.

Mr Coward was quick to praise the public for its help, especially the person who spotted Nuku near the entrance to Lake Mangamahoe after recognising him from a photo published in this paper. The tolerance of drivers along SH3 was commendable as well when police checkpoints caused delays as cars were checked. Pandey-Johnson was eventually seized in nearby Waiwakaiho Rd. When the trio appeared in court at 4pm on Monday they faced charges which included murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and drugs. It had taken less than three days to get the offenders to court.

The dead man, Dean Stuart Browne, 38, was also from Auckland and an ex-partner has since said his life was only going to end in one way because of how he lived. He used drugs and was allegedly involved in the manufacture of P. That being the case there is unlikely to be much sympathy for him. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. We can be thankful we live in a province that has one of the best equipped CIB teams, both in experience and skill, to deal with ghastly crimes such as these. Spare a thought for them, though. While the suspects are off the streets the CIB has a mountain of work to complete to make the charges stick.

- © Fairfax NZ News