12 Jul 2012

Father and son admit part in Blueskin Bay murder

4:34 pm on 12 July 2012

A father and son have pleaded guilty to involvement in a murder at a beach near Dunedin.

James Ellis, 23, was found dead from blunt force injuries at Blueskin Bay estuary in April last year.

Peter Holmes pleaded guilty to his murder in May this year.

A murder trial was to have begun next week against Dean and Mark Carruthers, both of Dunedin.

However, on Wednesday the men appeared in the Dunedin High Court and after a sentencing indication from a judge pleaded guilty to lesser involvement.

Mark Carruthers, 18, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was immediately jailed for two years.

Dean Carruthers pleaded guilty to two charges of being an accessory after the fact.

The 48-yeear-old is expected to be sentenced along with Holmes in mid-August.