17 Jun 2009

Two more charged with Hamilton murder

3:44 pm on 17 June 2009

Police have charged two more people with the murder of a Hamilton man whose body was discovered in an abandoned car.

Piki Kingi, 38, died after an assault at a house in Cobham Drive last week.

He was found dead in the back seat of the car, which had been parked on a street in the suburb of Hillcrest street for four days and was discovered on Sunday night.

A man, 48, and a woman, 45, have already appeared in court charged with murder. They were given interim name suppression and remanded in custody, without plea, to reappear on 6 July.

The armed offenders squad raided a house on Tuesday and arrested another man, while the fourth person was picked up as he left a hotel in central Hamilton.

Both men appeared in Hamilton District Court on Wednesday and were remanded without plea to appear again next month.

Police say there is a drug connection to the case and they are not ruling out gang involvement.