Police guard at the scene of the Bucklands beach double homicide fire. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
A man charged with murdering a father and son who died in an Auckland house fire has pleaded not guilty.
The bodies of 36-year-old Jung Sup Lee and 11-year-old Ha-il Lee were found inside a Bucklands Beach home last month.
A 38-year-old man was arrested and charged with their murders in late October.
The man appeared at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday, where he entered not guilty pleas through his lawyer, David Hoskin. He was assisted by a Korean interpreter.
Hoskin asked for the man to be given temporary name suppression until Monday, 17 November at 11.59pm, which was granted by Justice Mathew Downs.
Hoskins said the man's wife and young children would return to Korea before he was publicly named, and the suppression would prevent them suffering hardship.
Justice Downs said the man would be remanded in custody until his February 2027 trial, unless granted bail.
The trial is set to take three weeks.
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