The final charge has been dismissed against a man who had been accused of the murder of Horowhenua Nomads member Palmiro MacDonald in 2016.
MacDonald disappeared in March 2016 and his remains were found near Shannon about seven months later.
Chea Paratene Charles Brattle-Hemara Haeana, who uses the surname Hemara, and Joseph William Johnson were charged with MacDonald’s murder and pleaded not guilty.
A jury at the High Court in Palmerston North could not agree on verdicts in 2019.
In February, Justice Rebecca Ellis dismissed the murder charge against Hemara, and in a brief hearing at the High Court in Wellington on Tuesday she also dismissed the sole remaining charge against him of being an accessory after the fact to murder.
Hemara was in court for the end of the case against him. Afterwards he took the advice of his lawyer, Liz Hall, not to comment to media.
Johnson is due to face trial again later this year.
They were charged with murdering MacDonald, 36, a Nomads member, in March 2016.
The Crown said Johnson and Hemara were part of a plan to kill MacDonald, who had been “taxing” people’s property and using methamphetamine.
It was alleged MacDonald was taken to a Hokio Beach property where Hemara had been living and was the former home of infamous Nomads founder and longtime president, Dennis ‘Mossie’ Hines.
MacDonald was allegedly beaten and repeatedly shot, before his body was left in rural Shannon.
Make sure you have subscribed to our Facebook page or Twitter to stay tuned!
Source: Stuff