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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
00:01:41
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
00:01:47
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website [Music]
00:01:57
on wednesday may 24 1989 the fax machine worked at the interpol offices in auckland the largest city on new
00:02:06
zealand's north island it was a message from the swedish town of storforsh a local couple had failed to return home
00:02:16
from their trip to new zealand and their families had become worried twenty-three-year-old swan hog lean who
00:02:23
went by his middle name urban and his 21 year old beyonce heidi pakkinen were due
00:02:29
back on may 7 though no one had heard from them for over a month their last correspondence a letter sent
00:02:38
home on april 7 didn't hint that anything was awry urban and heidi were looking forward to
00:02:45
exploring the expansive and striking coromandel region along the east coast which featured steep rolling mountains
00:02:53
pristine beaches and rugged rainforests airline records confirmed that neither urban or heidi bordered their departing
00:03:02
flight out of auckland [Music] it was completely out of character for them not to be in touch especially if
00:03:09
they changed their plans the couple had budgeted just enough for their current travel itinerary which
00:03:16
involved low-cost activities like hiking fishing and camping this suited the outdoorsy and
00:03:24
adventurous couple just fine but ruled out the possibility that they had spontaneously extended their trip
00:03:32
throughout new zealand urban and heidi had pitched their tent in official tourist grounds or on the side of the
00:03:39
road on the odd occasion they accepted overnight invitations from friendly locals
00:03:47
in latter's home heidi wrote the people here are nice and very helpful if it weren't for all the sand flies and
00:03:55
wasps new zealand would be the perfect country almost anyway [Music] [Music] [Music]
00:04:25
[Music] police in auckland were told to be on the lookout for a barn hog lean and
00:04:32
heidi pakkanen who were traveling with two large backpacks a green and yellow tent sleeping bags and other camping and
00:04:40
fishing gear urban was six feet tall with a strong athletic frame and wavy light brown hair
00:04:49
heidi had a quintessential scandinavian look with golden blonde hair and a slender 5'9 frame
00:04:57
both had striking blue eyes and wore matching gold engagement bands with one another's names engraved inside
00:05:06
the search was also on for the couple's car a white 1976 subaru station wagon they had bought cheap second hand to get
00:05:14
them around the large island urban and heidi's trail went cold at the coastal township of thames at the foot
00:05:23
of the coromandel range where they'd sent their final letter home the owner of a general store recalled
00:05:30
speaking to a couple who matched urban and heidi's description late in the afternoon on thursday april 6. they
00:05:38
sought directions to tararu creek road located at the top end of town the dead-end road granted access to a 12
00:05:47
kilometer bush track that led up to table mountain from there the couple intended to go
00:05:54
down into kawaranga valley where they would hitch a ride back to their car the general store owner advised the pair
00:06:02
that such a trip couldn't be done in a day that would require camping in the wilderness overnight
00:06:09
a scenic and popular campsite called crosby's clearing was part way up the trail and offered the ideal spot to
00:06:16
settle three days later on sunday april 9 urban and heidi's subaru was spotted parked at
00:06:24
the end of tararu creek road by a group of four friends visiting the area it was there when they arrived at midday
00:06:33
and it hadn't moved by 4 pm a for sale sign was propped up on display in one of its windows
00:06:41
one of the men was in the market for a new car so the group approached the subaru to assess its suitability
00:06:49
although its windows were up and it looked secure they were a little surprised to see that the car was full
00:06:55
of personal belongings including two large backpacks and fishing equipment a camera was also clearly visible on the
00:07:04
front seat the group assumed the subaru's owners must have only gone for a day trip into
00:07:11
the bush and that's why they'd left their gear in the car by the time urban and heidi were
00:07:21
reported missing their subaru was no longer in terms it was eventually uncovered 118
00:07:28
kilometers away in downtown auckland it had been abandoned on wattling street in the suburb of mount eden
00:07:38
its tyres were flat one of the windows was smashed and the couple's personal belongings were gone
00:07:45
nothing was found in or around the car that hinted at their current whereabouts nor was there any evidence of what might
00:07:52
have happened to them such as traces of blood or other key forensics residents believed the subaru had been
00:08:01
on wattling street for about six weeks this was backed by two local police officers who had been patrolling the
00:08:09
area on friday april 14. five days after the car was witnessed on tararu creek road in tamz
00:08:18
the police officers saw four men in the subaru whom they described as hoons a slang term for people who drive
00:08:25
recklessly for attention they had run the vehicle's details through their database but it hadn't
00:08:31
been reported stolen so they let it go it was theorised that urban and heidi had found trouble on their hike in the
00:08:41
coromandel region the area was characterized by dense forests creeks deep abandoned mine
00:08:48
shafts and dangerous ravines with smaller tracks crisscrossing through the mountains
00:08:55
although the top of table mountain was flat its sides were extremely steep it was a grueling journey upwards and
00:09:04
the weather at the time was drizzly if urban and heidi had gotten lost or injured opportunists might have chanced
00:09:13
upon their subaru and broken in to steal their belongings before driving it over
00:09:18
an hour away to walkland on the first weekend of june a search party consisting of police officers army
00:09:29
personnel and 60 volunteers braved the freezing conditions to scour the thick wet bushland leading from tararu creek
00:09:37
road they hiked upwards for hours while examining ancillary tracks and creeks along the way
00:09:46
it was no easy task given the poor weather and muddy treacherous landscape after three days it became the largest
00:09:55
land-based grid search ever conducted in new zealand but there was still no sign
00:10:01
of urban her glean or heidi they had been missing for around two months if they were lost or injured in the bush
00:10:10
police deemed it virtually impossible that they would still be alive the hoglean and pakanan families felt
00:10:19
differently they were confident that oban and heidi had the necessary skills to survive in
00:10:25
the bush they were both resolute and capable people with plenty of outdoor experience
00:10:33
urban had recently completed 10 months of military training and often went on week-long camping and fishing trips in
00:10:40
the remote wilderness in his home country he didn't always bother with a tent choosing to sleep out under the stars
00:10:48
instead it wasn't until they saw the jungle-like terrain in the coromandel range for
00:10:55
themselves that the hog lean and pakken and family's concerns grew this was uncharted overgrown territory
00:11:04
nothing like the open spacious forests of sweden the families didn't think urban and
00:11:11
heidi would try to tackle the area they might have had adventurous spirits but neither were big risk takers
00:11:20
this was disputed by a canadian couple who had hiked some challenging tracks with urban and heidi during their time
00:11:27
in new zealand the canadians were impressed by the swedes confident determination as they
00:11:34
navigated through wet slippery and dangerous conditions [Music] 45 year old farmer edward corbett lived
00:11:46
on the western side of the coromandel range at the top of tararu creek road in mid-april edward had spotted a
00:11:54
luggage tag hanging from his fence with a name written on it at the time he'd thought nothing of it
00:12:02
and had thrown it on the ground when he heard the news about the missing swedish couple he immediately recognized
00:12:09
the name from the discarded tag heidi pakkanen edward ventured back to the fence and
00:12:17
found the tag still lying in the grass he then wandered around the area on the lookout for anything else significant
00:12:26
on the side of tararu creek road underneath some trees he came across three plastic bags filled with clothing
00:12:35
the clothing labels were european leaving little doubt that the items belonged to urban and heidi
00:12:43
one of the bags contained nothing but women's underwear at a quicker glance the garments
00:12:49
appeared to be dirty laundry set aside for washing but strangely one pair had been sliced
00:12:56
down each side to form a g-string design it didn't appear to be an alteration heidi would have made herself
00:13:05
testing confirmed the tempered underwear hadn't been worn or washed since the cuts were made
00:13:12
in the absence of any evidence indicating otherwise investigators were now forming the belief that obama and
00:13:19
heidi had met with foul play their search continued in the bush for weeks at one point police found a cutout
00:13:30
clothing label with the brand name active life printed on it urban's brother stefan recognized the
00:13:38
label straight away it had come from a waterproof hooded jacket that belonged to urban
00:13:46
the brothers had shopped for the jacket together and stefan had purchased an identical one which he had with him and
00:13:53
was able to show investigators swedish backpacker hawken borcol had recently returned home from a holiday in
00:14:02
new zealand in late june he was reading a local swedish newspaper when he saw a story
00:14:09
about urban hoglean and heidi pakkinen's disappearance which featured photos of them along with their vehicle
00:14:18
hawkin had never seen urban or heidi before but he immediately recognised their white subaru due to its
00:14:25
distinctive custom bull bars on the front a couple of months earlier hawkin had been staying at a small backpackers
00:14:34
hostel in thames called the sun-kissed lodge on monday april 10 he and a canadian
00:14:42
tourist were making plans to visit the nearby coromandel peninsula together they'd been studying a map in one of the
00:14:49
common areas and discussing how to go about it when another guest overheard their conversation and made them an
00:14:56
offer he'd take them on a day trip to the peninsula if they agreed to pay for petrol as well as his accommodation
00:15:03
overnight at the lodge hawken and the canadian agreed the next day the man led them out to his
00:15:12
vehicle a white subaru station wagon with custom bull bars he explained that he'd borrowed the car
00:15:20
from his cousin hence why he didn't know how to use certain features such as the
00:15:26
car stereo there was also some camping and fishing gear in the back which the man said
00:15:32
belonged to his cousin the day trip was a great success the man was a new zealander who was
00:15:40
familiar with the area and he provided insights into the indigenous maori names of the places they visited
00:15:48
overall he was a friendly and informative tour guide now realising the car the man was
00:15:55
driving likely belonged to missing backpackers urban hoglean and heidi pakinen hawk and borcol contacted police
00:16:03
and gave them a description of his travel guide he was aged between 30 and 35 around 180
00:16:11
centimeters tall with a dark complexion thick dark hair and a bushy handlebar mustache
00:16:19
hawken even remembered his name pat kelly [Music] it wasn't the first time police had
00:16:31
heard of the name pat kelly during their enquiries a member of the public had reported that
00:16:37
they'd been hunting at the crosby's clearing campsite in mid-march when they came upon an unmanned tent
00:16:44
they looked inside and found a note that read if anybody finds this tan do not vandal
00:16:51
it as it's all i've got the note was signed pat kelly coupled with hawkins siding this proved
00:17:01
that pat kelly was in the thames area both before and after urban and tidy went missing
00:17:08
the question was how did he come to be in possession of their car [Music] detectives had actually visited the
00:17:16
sunkist lodge several weeks earlier after a member of the public recalled seeing a white subaru parked outside
00:17:24
sometime around april 10. they ultimately ruled out the sighting as the manager of the lodge had never
00:17:31
seen the car nor had urban or hardy ever been guests there now armed with the information from
00:17:39
hawkenborko detectives returned to the sunkist lodge and checked the guest register
00:17:46
the missing couple might not have stayed there but pat kelly sure had he had checked in on sunday april 9 the
00:17:55
same day the subaru was sighted on tararu creek road and stayed for two nights the manager couldn't remember much about
00:18:04
kelly other than the fact he'd been very friendly when signing in he'd listed his hometown
00:18:12
as invercargill a city on the opposite side of the country detectives contacted authorities in
00:18:19
invercargill if there was a pat kelly living in the area they hadn't met him phone records from the sunkist lodge
00:18:31
over the two days that pat kelly stayed there were collated and examined to see if any could be attributed to him
00:18:39
one call had been placed to a residential address in the auckland suburb of avondale
00:18:46
it was a home police were already familiar with [Music] not one to respect authority trouble
00:18:57
seemed to follow david tamaheri wherever he went especially when alcohol was involved
00:19:03
the 36 year old had a rap sheet that dated back to his teenage years by age 19 he was already serving two
00:19:12
years in prison for manslaughter tamaheri maintained that it was an accident when he fatally struck 23 year
00:19:19
old strip club dancer mary barchman with an air rifle as a free man tamaheri continued to
00:19:28
struggle with alcohol abuse and was rarely sober in 1986 while under the influence he
00:19:36
broke into the home of a 47 year old auckland woman and subjected her to a six-hour ordeal where he tied her up
00:19:43
raped her and threatened to kill her although he had confessed to this violent crime he was granted bail to
00:19:52
await sentencing tamaheri was also responsible for the unsolved home invasion and rape of a 62
00:20:00
year old woman the year prior unwilling to go back to prison tamaheri fled while on bail
00:20:09
he had been on the run ever since living under the alias pat kelly within hours of police making the
00:20:21
pivotal connection between pat kelly and david tamaheri there was a knock on the
00:20:26
door of the tamaheri family home david tamaheri's de facto wife christine was frustrated to see the two detectives
00:20:35
on her doorstep she had dealt with a lot over the 18 years she had been with her husband yet
00:20:42
despite his violent and criminal behaviour she cared about him deeply she considered him a kind person
00:20:49
when sober and he'd never laid a hand on her or their sons aged 15 and 10. it was only when he started drinking
00:20:59
that everything changed and the dark side of his personality emerged although irritated at the detective's
00:21:07
presence christine agreed to answer some routine questions she led them into her lounge room into a
00:21:14
small table the detective's attention was immediately drawn to a hooded waterproof
00:21:21
jacket hanging off the back of a chair it looked identical to the active life one owned by urban her gleam from which
00:21:29
the label had been cut out and left near the tararu creek road track christine agreed to let them have a look
00:21:38
at the jacket explaining that her husband had recently given it to one of their sons
00:21:44
inside the lining two tags had been removed there was no doubt about it the jacket belonged to urban her gleam
00:21:55
[Music] a thorough search of the tamaheri home uncovered several more items of interest
00:22:02
including a pair of binoculars in a camouflage print case a tent a swiss army knife a bone-handled hunting knife
00:22:10
and a tomahawk photos were also found showing david tamaheri on previous camping trips in
00:22:18
the coromandel region police confiscated these in the hopes they might be able to identify the
00:22:25
locations he'd visited before to search for evidence in terms a simultaneous search was
00:22:33
conducted at the sunkist lodge where tamaheri stayed the weekend oban and heidi had vanished from the area
00:22:42
as officers examined a bathroom cabinet they found a toiletry bag tucked away at
00:22:47
the back inside were two toothbrushes and a bottle of prescription medication the name on the label read
00:22:57
heidi pakkanen [Music] police had no trouble locating david tamaheri they already knew exactly where
00:23:10
to find him he was in mount eden prison where he'd been since may 24. [Music] after three years on the run a police
00:23:20
officer in auckland had recognised tamaheri and immediately arrested him for skipping bail on his 1986 rape
00:23:27
charge detectives visited the prison to question tamaheri about his time on the run lighting up a cigarette he openly
00:23:38
admitted to using the alias pat kelly he said that he'd spent a majority of the past year out in the bush in the
00:23:45
coromandel region he'd lived off the land hunting wild goats foraging for food and selling the
00:23:52
occasional possum pelt he was familiar with crosby's clearing having visited the area several times
00:24:02
detectives asked if he'd ever broken into a white subaru but tamaheri denied it when they asked about the waterproof
00:24:11
jacket he'd given to his son tamaherui realised he'd backed himself into a corner
00:24:18
he caved admitting i stole the car according to tamaheri on the afternoon of monday april 10 he'd hiked from tams
00:24:31
to tararu creek road with the intention of heading into the bush to camp at crosby's clearing
00:24:38
during the approximately 90 minute walk from town he didn't pass any other people or cars
00:24:45
when he got to the dead end on tararu creek road he came across the white subaru packed with gear
00:24:54
tamaheri decided to break into the car to see if there was any food inside the driver's side window was open about
00:25:01
an inch so tamaheri got a piece of wire from a nearby fence and used it to unlock the door from the inside
00:25:10
once he gained access he rummaged through the glove box and found a set of two keys as well as the vehicle's
00:25:16
ownership papers recognising an opportunity tamaheri felt the exhaust pipe it was still warm
00:25:27
this led him to believe that the subaru's owners had only just recently entered the bush likely to camp
00:25:34
overnight therefore he had plenty of time to steal their vehicle without them realising it
00:25:40
was gone in the back of the station wagon were two backpacks which were mostly full of
00:25:48
clothing tamaheri tossed the women's clothing aside and cut out the labels of the few
00:25:55
items of men's clothing that he kept for himself some of the clothing was already in
00:26:01
plastic bags so he bundled the unwanted pieces into the bags as well and threw them down an embankment
00:26:10
knew that stolen cars were a low priority for police and felt confident he could drive the subaru for a couple
00:26:17
of days without risk if he was pulled over for any reason he'd be able to show the ownership
00:26:24
papers which would hopefully keep police at bay after spending the night at the sunkist
00:26:32
lodge he drove the subaru to auckland where he dumped it at the railway station with the keys inside the glove
00:26:39
box from there tamaheri visited a secondhand dealer in the cbd and pawned some of the
00:26:47
items he found in the car two large backpacks a pair of binoculars and a fishing rod
00:26:55
he used the car's ownership papers as id pawning the items under the owner's name
00:27:01
urban hog lean in a bin outside the store tamaheri threw away two passports he'd
00:27:08
found inside the backpacks he then returned to visit his wife and children at their home in the suburbs
00:27:16
but was spotted shortly after and thrown back in jail investigators weren't buying david
00:27:26
tamaheri's story if he'd truly thought the subaru's owners had gone camping in the bush
00:27:33
overnight surely he'd have realised this wasn't the case once he noticed their backpacks and toiletry bag containing
00:27:40
essential items like heidi's medication in the car furthermore the canadian couple who
00:27:47
urban and heidi had previously traveled with recalled that there was one key to the subaru and urban was very protective
00:27:54
of it the car's previous owner also confirmed that there was only one key it seemed unlikely that obama would have
00:28:04
left it inside the subaru for tamaheri to stumble upon investigators believed it was much more
00:28:12
likely that tamaheri had obtained the key after directly interacting with urban and heidi and then made up the
00:28:19
story about breaking into the car using fencing wire to separate himself from this fact
00:28:27
tamahera showed investigators how he apparently broke into the vehicle in his demonstration he fashioned a
00:28:35
piece of number eight fencing wire into a hook that he folded to make stronger he then slid the hook end through the
00:28:43
narrowly open window to snag and release the toggle lock while he was able to unlock the car
00:28:50
rather easily and efficiently using this method it banked on the window having been slightly open
00:28:58
the group of four friends who had inspected the subaru on tararu creek road when they noticed its for sale sign
00:29:05
recalled that all the windows were securely up another point of contention was tamaheri's claims that the subaru's
00:29:15
exhaust pipe had been warm when he found it experiments determined that once the
00:29:21
subaru's engine was off it took 30 minutes for the exhaust pipe to cool down the walk from thames to tararu creek
00:29:30
road was impossible to complete in 30 minutes yet tamaheri claimed no one had driven past him during that time
00:29:40
if that was the case it didn't make sense that the exhaust pipe could still be warm
00:29:49
investigators blatantly put it to tamaheri that the reason he'd confidently driven the subaru around was
00:29:55
because he knew the owners were dead and therefore wouldn't be reporting it as stolen
00:30:01
tamaheri denied this stating i have never seen them or done anything to them i don't know anything more about it
00:30:11
i stole the car and that's all after being interviewed for three hours police still had no evidence to prove
00:30:20
tamaheri had ever physically crossed paths with urban hoglean or heidi pakkanen all they could charge him with was theft
00:30:29
of the couple's vehicle as well as their belongings tamaheri didn't protest the charge
00:30:37
instead he shook the detective's hand and agreed to assist with further enquiries if needed
00:30:45
the following day a handcuff to david tamari was led to the thames district court to be formally charged with theft
00:30:54
after receiving a tip-off several members of the media had gathered outside the court and followed tamaheri
00:31:01
as he was escorted inside one reporter asked tamaheri what he thought of the work being done to find
00:31:08
urban her gleam and heidi pakinen he replied jovially well it's quite good i wasn't with them
00:31:17
so it's all right the reporter asked why he had been using an alias tamaheri chuckled slightly and said
00:31:28
i was already wanted quietly observing the goings-on outside of court that day were john cassidy and
00:31:37
his hiking buddy mel north john and mel watched carefully as david tamaheri was led past the crowd of
00:31:46
buzzing media as they are tamaheri their minds were cast back to april case file will be back shortly thank you
00:32:09
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00:35:13
it was just after 3 p.m when john cassidy and mel north heard the strange noise the men had spent saturday april 8 1989
00:35:24
hiking around the coromandel ranges and were nearing the crosby's clearing campsite when they were drawn to a
00:35:30
thumping sound it led them to a couple a man was using a tool of some kind to clear roots from the ground while his
00:35:41
young female companion sat on a tree stump nearby john and mel stopped and chatted with
00:35:48
the pair while pitching a tent the man explained that he and the woman were from auckland
00:35:54
and had just hiked up the tararu creek track to camp at crosby's clearing overnight
00:36:01
they intended to leave the way they came the following day from the way that the man talked it was
00:36:09
clear that he was familiar with the area the woman on the other hand looked completely out of place
00:36:18
her face was made up with powder and a lipstick and she was wearing nail polish something about her facial expression
00:36:26
and body language gave jon and mel the impression she was eager for them to move on
00:36:33
they assumed that the couple might have been having a secret rendezvous and she was embarrassed to have been caught
00:36:41
john and mel continued on their way although their interaction with the auckland couple was unremarkable the
00:36:49
woman had struck both men as odd it wasn't just her glamorous appearance and anti-social body language
00:36:58
for the entirety of their 15-minute conversation she didn't say a word upon learning of urban hog lean and
00:37:10
heidi pakkanen's disappearance john cassidy and mel north informed police of the two people they met at crosby's
00:37:17
clearing the weekend the couple vanished although the woman they encountered had been sitting down john
00:37:25
and mel could tell she was quite tall maybe around five foot eight she had been covered from head to toe in
00:37:32
a hooded green poncho so they didn't get a look at her clothing her straight shoulder-length blonde hair
00:37:40
was just visible around the collar and on her feet were a pair of tan hiking boots similar to the new zealand
00:37:47
paraflex brand although heidi pakkanen was tall and blonde john and mel had both seen photos
00:37:56
of her and didn't think she was the woman they came across in the bush heidi was a bit younger and her face was
00:38:04
fuller no one could vouch for heidi having ever owned paraflex boots and her family said
00:38:12
she wasn't inclined to wear makeup it was clear from their descriptions that her male companion wasn't urban hog
00:38:21
lean either john and mel had described the man as part mary between five foot eight and
00:38:28
five foot eleven with an athletic physique and olive complexion he was wearing heavy boots denim shorts
00:38:36
and a sleeveless top that showed off his strong biceps he had dark hair and to the lower half
00:38:43
of his face was framed by a few days growth of stubble while this didn't match urban's
00:38:50
appearance the description bore a striking resemblance to the case's prime suspect david tamaheri
00:38:59
but when shown a photo lineup that included an image of tamaheri neither john nor mel singled him out
00:39:08
in the photo tamaheri's face was fully covered in thick facial hair and this might have hampered the witness's
00:39:15
ability to recognize him ahead of tamaheri's first appearance at thames district court investigators
00:39:24
encouraged john and mel to travel to the courthouse to see him in person when they laid eyes on david tamaheri
00:39:33
something about the distinct way he carried himself seemed oddly familiar they were also shown photos confiscated
00:39:42
from tamaheri's home to see if they could help identify any of the bush locations featured
00:39:50
a clean shaven tamaheri was in several of these images john and mel were now certain he was the
00:39:59
man they'd seen at crosby's clearing with this revelation they now believed that the woman with him was indeed heidi
00:40:09
pakkanen for the theft charges david tamaheri entered no play and was remanded in
00:40:19
custody when new zealand politician john banks heard about tamaheri's suspected involvement in obama and heidi's
00:40:27
disappearance he was outraged why had tamaheri ever been allowed out on bail after the 1986 rape charges
00:40:38
banks took his indignation to parliament and details of tamiheri's criminal record were published nationwide
00:40:45
including his manslaughter charge which banks labelled as a brutal killing the publicity surrounding tamaheri's
00:40:55
possible involvement in the disappearance of urban hog glean and heidi pakkanen was intense
00:41:02
questions were raised as to whether it would impact his right to a fair trial if police went ahead with a murder
00:41:08
charge banks was undeterred by the backlash stating i'm much more interested in the civil
00:41:17
liberties of swedish tourists and decent law-abiding new zealanders than i am in
00:41:22
the civil liberties of criminals sexual deviants killers and rapists by late july urban and heidi had been
00:41:33
missing for almost five months the search for the pair in the coromandel range had been officially
00:41:40
called off but one volunteer couldn't stop thinking about the missing couple he headed to tararu creek road to have
00:41:49
one last look around he hyped his way through a junction area in the bush known as the jam tins then
00:41:57
traversed the downhill for a further 20 minutes venturing down what looked like an
00:42:03
animal trail he noticed something to the side of the track behind a small mound it was a navy blue and white jacket
00:42:12
neatly folded as though it was intentionally placed there the jacket was quickly identified as
00:42:20
belonging to heidi pakinen a search party returned to the area and it wasn't long before a member spotted
00:42:28
something on the ground it was heidi's wallet which had been stripped of its cash and credit cards
00:42:36
alongside it was a heavily water damaged photo of urban hog lean and the pakken and family which heidi carried with her
00:42:44
everywhere like the subaru none of heidi's belongings contained traces of blood then in december 1989 a local man was
00:42:58
poking around in an old shed near the crosby's clearing campsite the shed had been searched multiple
00:43:06
times by the police since urban and heidi's disappearance but nothing of interest had ever been found
00:43:13
this time the local man noticed something piled up in front of some old furniture
00:43:19
a green and yellow tent with the word sweden on it it belonged to urban and heidi
00:43:29
forensic testing revealed a small blood stain on the roof but the amount was so small that it could have come from
00:43:36
something as minor as a cut finger despite being major discoveries neither the jacket wallet nor tent offered any
00:43:46
insight into what happened to urban or heidi or where they were now the answer to these mysteries came as
00:43:59
david tamaheri sat in jail at one point he struck up a conversation with his cellmate who was identified
00:44:07
only as witness a he spoke of hiking the tararu creek road track with some friends on the morning
00:44:15
of saturday april 8 when they ran in to urban her gleam and heidi they offered to show the couple around
00:44:24
before leading them further into the bush and launching a savage attack tamaheri hit urban over the head with a
00:44:32
piece of wood tied him to the tree and the group then took turns raping both urban and heidi
00:44:40
afterwards they took the couple to a different location where tamaheri killed them cut up their bodies and buried them
00:44:48
near a bluff he'd even drawn maps of where the rapes and subsequent slayings took place which
00:44:55
the inmate handed over to police another inmate witness b claimed he and tamaheri were smoking cannabis outside
00:45:05
the prison chapel when the subject of the missing swedish couple arose tamaheri allegedly boasted
00:45:13
don't worry i cut the [ __ ] up so they won't be found there was a third inmate who tamaheri
00:45:21
started associating with witness c noticed a large map of the coromandel peninsula on the wall of
00:45:29
tamahedri's cell and questioned him about it tamaheri said something along the lines
00:45:36
of the bloody clowns are searching the wrong [ __ ] area they won't find the bodies there
00:45:44
over multiple conversations he proceeded to tell witness see how he'd met urban hoglean and heidi pakinen
00:45:51
at a picnic area and had offered to give them a tour of the coromandel region after leading them away he launched an
00:46:00
attack tying her barn up to a tree he raped heidi in front of her barn before proceeding to rape her barn too
00:46:10
tamaheri then killed urban by bashing his head in with a piece of wood he held heidi captive in a stolen tent
00:46:18
for several days where he continued to assault her at one point two people out bush walking
00:46:26
had almost caught them but luckily for tamaheri heidi had been too terrified to say a word
00:46:35
tamaheri went on to reveal that he eventually strangled heidi and returned to the tent to the shed where he'd
00:46:41
stolen it from using an aluminium motorboat that he stole from a caravan park west of the
00:46:48
peninsula he took the couple's bodies out to sea at two different times he weighed them down with scrap metal
00:46:57
and disposed of them about 15 minutes right offshore afterwards tamaheri scrubbed the boat
00:47:05
and put it back where he found it he drove his victim subaru for the next couple of days making his way to
00:47:13
auckland where he was highly entertained by the fact that a police car had ignorantly driven right by him
00:47:23
in the criminal justice system jailhouse confessions are to be taken with a grain
00:47:28
of salt this isn't just the credibility issue the problem is that inmates may be
00:47:35
compelled to lie in the hopes that helping with another investigation might benefit their own circumstances in some
00:47:42
way however investigators leading the hoglean and pakenon case were adamant that the inmates who came forward to
00:47:51
implicate david tamaheri received no incentives or rewards for doing so if they wanted to testify against
00:48:00
tamaheri they were free to do so but it wouldn't result in shorter sentences for
00:48:05
themselves following word of david tamahri's confessions investigators charged him
00:48:13
for the double homicide of urban her glean and heidi pakkanen it marked only the third time in new
00:48:21
zealand legal history that police chose to proceed with a murder charge without any bodies or a crime scene
00:48:33
david tamaheri's trial commenced in october 1990 a year and a half after his alleged victims disappeared
00:48:42
at the time new zealand authorities had a 98.5 success rate for solving homicides with
00:48:49
only seven remaining unsolved from the past decade urban and heidi's case continued to make
00:48:57
headlines in sweden tarnishing new zealand's image as a safe place for young travellers so the pressure was on
00:49:04
to convict their killer the prosecution relied mostly on five key witnesses the first two were john cassidy and mel
00:49:15
north who were said to have seen david tamaheri with a young blonde woman at crosby's clearing the weekend oban and
00:49:23
heidi were believed to have visited there the other three were the unnamed inmates
00:49:29
who tamaheri had allegedly confessed urban and heidi's murders to based on all five testimonies the
00:49:38
prosecution put forward that david tamaheri had come across the swedish couple then lured them into the bush
00:49:44
near crosby's clearing under the pretense of showing them around he then proceeded to rape her barn
00:49:51
before bludgeoning him to death with a plank of wood tamaheri then held heidi captive in his
00:49:58
tent for several days forcing her to wear makeup and repeatedly raping her to explain why she didn't ask for help
00:50:08
when john cassidy and mel north came upon them heidi was either suffering from stockholm syndrome or was in such
00:50:15
high distress and suffering from post-traumatic stress that she completely froze
00:50:22
it was also possible that urban was still alive but incapacitated nearby and she feared that alerting jon and mel
00:50:30
would put him in danger as witness a described what tamahri confessed to doing to urban and heidi
00:50:40
one of the jurors was physically sick and the court had to be adjourned coupled with his history of committing
00:50:48
violent rape the confessions helped depict tamaheri as a vile sexual deviant tamaheri allegedly confessed to witness
00:50:58
a quote i'm a [ __ ] i'll [ __ ] anything he said he only killed the couple to prevent getting caught and because he
00:51:10
would be too ashamed to be charged with raping a man it was the detailed testimony from
00:51:18
witness c that presented the most comprehensive insight into the crimes based on his detailed play-by-play the
00:51:26
prosecution concluded that tamaheri had narrowly avoided being cored at crosby's
00:51:31
clearing by john cassidy and mel north before killing the couple dismembering their bodies and disposing of them at
00:51:39
sea afterwards he drove their car to auckland to pawn their belongings but kept some of their barns things which he
00:51:49
gave to his sons following five weeks of proceedings the jury retired to deliberate
00:52:01
by the second day they still hadn't reached a decision the difficulty lay on a case built
00:52:08
entirely on circumstantial evidence they struggled so hard to reach a unanimous decision that they asked what
00:52:16
would happen if they remained deadlocked the judge encouraged them to continue deliberations in a bid to spare a second
00:52:25
jury from the same situation finally on day three the verdict was delivered for the murders of urban hoglean and
00:52:36
heidi pakkanen david tamaheri was declared guilty he was sentenced to life imprisonment
00:52:44
with a non-parole period of 20 years the verdict came as a huge relief to the hoglean and pakonen families who felt
00:52:54
satisfied that justice had been served ten months later on friday october 11 1991 two young men were out hunting for
00:53:08
pigs in a forestry plantation in parikhawa valley located on the southeastern tip of the coromandel
00:53:14
peninsula near the town of whangamata they veered roughly 35 meters off the track and as they trudged through the
00:53:23
dense bushland one of the hunters noticed something on the ground partially covered by a thick layer of
00:53:30
pine needles he edged closer and realized it was a human skeleton the remains belonged to an adult male
00:53:42
his clothes had mostly decomposed but some trace elements of his polyester t-shirt and jumper remained as well as a
00:53:49
pair of red nylon shorts a small portion of the man's neck bone had been sliced off
00:53:59
such an injury had the power to sever his jugular vein and spinal cord causing death
00:54:06
it also indicated an attempted decapitation he'd likely been killed just meters from
00:54:14
where he was found as the positioning of his body and clothing indicated he'd been dragged backwards by his feet face
00:54:22
downwards there had been no attempt to bury the body he'd simply been left out in the
00:54:29
open with nothing but the surrounding trees to conceal his remains parts of his hands and finger bones had
00:54:38
been carried away by rats and burrowed into an underground nest in a clump of roots underneath his torso
00:54:47
was a gold ring once cleaned it revealed a name engraved on the inside heidi it had been two and a half years but
00:55:01
urban hog lean had finally been found he was on the opposite side of the coromandel peninsula some 73 kilometers
00:55:11
north by road and then a further 12 kilometers down a remote bush track from where convicted killer david tamaheri
00:55:20
was said to have murdered him case file will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening
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you support case file to continue to deliver quality content [Music] the prosecution's entire case had
00:59:06
centered around a david tamaheri killing urban hoglean and heidi pakkanen in crosby's clearing
00:59:13
while it was possible he could have transported urban to parakowai valley before killing him not a single trace of
00:59:20
blood was uncovered in the subaru on any of the swade's recovered belongings or on the weapons confiscated from tamaheri
00:59:29
had crosby's clearing played a part in the crime the lack of witnesses was notable
00:59:36
it had been a relatively busy period for hikers in the area and two teenagers had
00:59:41
been camping around cosby's clearing yet no one heard or saw urban hardy or tamaheri trudging through the landscape
00:59:49
at that weekend aside from john cassidy and mel north they spoke of having come across a
00:59:56
couple at crosby's clearing on the saturday afternoon theirs was the only eyewitness account
01:00:03
and it played a major role in tamaheri's murder trial when it came to identification police
01:00:11
procedure clearly stipulated that nothing should be done to suggest to a witness who the suspect might be
01:00:18
in this case it was blatantly obvious to jon and mel that david tamaheri was the
01:00:24
case's prime suspect when they were told to go see him in person they were later shown personal photos of
01:00:31
tamaheri that had been taken from his home to help solidify their identification
01:00:38
yet both the john and mel described the man from crosby's clearing as having had
01:00:43
just a few days worth of facial stubble those who had encountered tamaheri or pat kelly as he was known at the time
01:00:52
remembered his distinct thick handlebar mustache each time they spoke to police john and
01:01:00
mel's statements changed slightly the man went from having only stubble to having a mustache
01:01:08
eventually they went from being unsure who the couple were from crosby's clearing to saying with certainty that
01:01:15
it was david tamaheri and heidi pakinen prior to the murder trial the defense had tried to have jon and mel's evidence
01:01:23
thrown out on the basis that police hadn't followed proper identification procedures
01:01:29
while the court labelled the investigation methods used as unacceptable and regrettable the
01:01:35
evidence was ultimately allowed to be admitted [Music] john and mel sighting was the crux of
01:01:43
the prosecution's case up until they came forward investigators were struggling to find any evidence of
01:01:51
a physical connection between david tamaheri and his two alleged victims john and mel provided the much needed
01:01:59
link that helped solidify tamaheri as the couple's killer yet their timeline of events conflicted
01:02:07
with several other independent witnesses one man believed he saw urban and heidi
01:02:14
packing up their campsite in port jackson on saturday morning 110 north of terms
01:02:22
at three that afternoon john and mel claimed to have seen heidi with david tamaheri at crosby's clearing
01:02:30
yet at around 4 30 pm two friends who were holidaying at wilson's bay 40 minutes north of tams reported seeing a
01:02:39
white subaru with distinct bull bars pulled over at a lookout a blonde woman matching heidi's
01:02:46
description was standing in front of the car taking photos of the view the subaru wasn't sighted near tararu
01:02:55
creek road until 7 30 pm a resident recalled seeing a white subaru with bull bars drive up the
01:03:03
street with a man and woman inside it never drove back down again the next morning several witnesses
01:03:14
passing by the top of tararu creek road noticed a recently lit campfire near where the subaru was parked
01:03:23
based on these sightings it was possible that oban and heidi had spent friday night in the coromandel peninsula before
01:03:30
slowly making their way back to terms arriving too late to make the trek up the mountain they opted to camp at the
01:03:38
end of terraroo creek road overnight instead leaving for their hike in the morning
01:03:46
this series of events correlated with the conversation the couple had with staff had attempts salon earlier in the
01:03:52
week a couple believed to have been oban and heidi had told staff of their plan to
01:03:59
visit the coromandel peninsula over the coming weekend then there was another key sighting that
01:04:07
seemingly confirmed the couple were still alive and well after jon and mel's alleged sighting on saturday
01:04:14
as reported by journalist ian wishard in his book missing pieces swedish tourist
01:04:20
murders on the morning of sunday april 9 a young swedish couple attended a service at st james union church in
01:04:29
terms they spoke to several of the 140 parishioners in attendance who recalled that the woman who was tall with blonde
01:04:38
hair introduced herself as heidi they didn't learn the man's name but described him as slim fit and tall with
01:04:47
brown hair all physical characteristics that matched urban her gleam john cassidy and mel north's alleged
01:05:00
sighting played a pivotal role in forming a physical connection between david tamaheri and his two alleged
01:05:06
victims prior to them coming forward investigators had failed to uncover any evidence to prove tamaheri had any
01:05:15
interactions with the foreign couple beyond stealing their car which tamaheri maintained he did
01:05:21
independently and without the use of urban's key but it was the testimony given by
01:05:29
tamaheri's fellow prisoners that implicated him hinoban and heidi's murder although all three prisoners claimed
01:05:38
tamaheri had confessed to killing and disposing of urban and heidi there were markable inconsistencies in their
01:05:45
stories witness a was the only one who said tamaheri had accomplices and that he cut
01:05:53
up and buried both victims in a bluff witness c said tamaheri had kept heidi captive for several days following
01:06:02
urban's murder and that both their bodies were dumped at sea both spoke of urban being bludgeoned
01:06:10
with a piece of wood neither of these stories aligned with where urban was eventually found and his
01:06:17
actual cause of death as for witness b tamaheri claimed their paths had never even crossed
01:06:27
this was backed by a prison officer who confirmed that both inmates were kept on
01:06:32
separate sides of the prison and were unlikely to have come into contact with one another
01:06:39
furthermore witness b was having psychiatric issues including paranoid delusions at the time this alleged
01:06:46
conversation with tamaheri took place when questioned regarding his alleged jailhouse confessions tamaheri blatantly
01:06:56
denied that such conversations had ever taken place the map he'd drawn of the coromandel
01:07:03
peninsula wasn't a guide to the bodies at all but had been drawn at the request of witness a who was involved in the
01:07:10
drug trade and wanted to know more about potential cannabis growing locations those critical of the investigation
01:07:19
noted just how smoothly the inmate confessions seem to tie up some of the loose ends in the case against tamaheri
01:07:27
the lead investigator detective sergeant john hughes was a polarizing figure some regarded him as a shining legend of
01:07:36
the force while others accused him of corruption and falsifying evidence on various occasions over the years
01:07:44
his involvement in the hoglean and pakkinen case along with the tainted identification process raised some red
01:07:51
flags amongst his critics furthermore urban was found wearing a watch that the prosecution alleged
01:07:59
tamaheri had stolen and gifted to his son the watch tamaheri gave to his son had
01:08:07
an inbuilt beeping alarm whereas urban's watch did not the prosecution knew this but used it to
01:08:15
tie tamaheri to the crimes regardless a foreign fingerprint was also lifted from heidi's wallet that wasn't a match
01:08:25
to tamaheri with all these inconsistencies in the prosecution's narrative coming to light
01:08:32
the tamaheri family as well as tamaheri's defense team were confident that he would at the very least be
01:08:38
granted a retrial yet the prosecution argued that the new evidence didn't disprove anything
01:08:48
according to them they'd never said that crosby's clearing had definitely been the murder side
01:08:54
besides tamaheri had access to the subaru and therefore could have used it to take the couple anywhere on the
01:09:01
peninsula as for the watch and inmate testimony the fact that the jury had deliberated
01:09:09
for so long indicated that these details didn't hold that much weight when it came to making a final decision
01:09:17
they disputed claims from tamaheri's defence team that the disturbingly detailed inmate testimony which was now
01:09:24
obviously inaccurate had created prejudice against their client that swayed the jury's decision
01:09:32
for the prosecution the discovery of urban's body simply proved to their case that he had died of violent death
01:09:41
they changed their theory saying it was possible that david tamaheri had led the
01:09:46
couple out to parakouwai valley in their subaru perhaps under the pretense of showing them around
01:09:53
after all he was known to take tourists around the peninsula in the couple's subaru
01:10:01
once in the valley tamaheri killed urban before driving heidi back to the tararu
01:10:07
creek road area the court of appeal agreed and tamaheri's appeal was rejected [Music]
01:10:20
david tamaheri's family and defence team were outraged not only did this go against everything
01:10:27
the prosecution had argued at trial but they felt this theory simply didn't make
01:10:32
sense after killing urban in parakouwai valley why would tamaheri risk driving heidi
01:10:39
all the way back to tararu creek road giving her the chance to escape or attract attention
01:10:47
she would have likely been hysterical at this point so how did tamaheri keep her
01:10:52
under control while making this significant journey urban had died a violent death from a
01:10:59
frenzied attack yet there wasn't a single drop of blood in the subaru defense lawyer murray gibson was so
01:11:08
convinced that a miscarriage of justice had been served that he used his own expenses to travel to the united kingdom
01:11:15
to appeal tamaheri's case to the privy council this judicial committee acted as a final
01:11:22
court of appeal for countries under the british commonwealth after hearing brief arguments from both
01:11:30
sides the privy council decided not to proceed with david tamaheri's case marking his final line of appeal
01:11:40
the legal side of the story was over but investigators refused to officially close the case until heidi pakkanen's
01:11:48
body was also [Music] found in august 1995 the phone rang at the office of david tamaheri's brother
01:11:59
john tamaheri who was a respected new zealand politician on the other line was jailhouse
01:12:06
informant witness c witness c told john he wanted to retract the evidence he gave in tamaheri's
01:12:15
murder trial he claimed that detectives had fed him the information to fit with the
01:12:20
prosecution case and promised to pay him up to 100 000 dollars and assist with his parole if he agreed to provide a
01:12:28
statement john tamaheri was dubious wondering if witness c was looking for some kind of
01:12:36
incentive to recant his testimony however he seemed genuine and even agreed to provide a sworn affidavit
01:12:46
it read in part detectives told me things that would be beneficial to the police
01:12:54
detectives told me about the bloodstains on the tent which david tamaheri had supposedly concealed in a heart or shed
01:13:02
i was told about sexual activities involving the female swede after the male swede's body was supposedly
01:13:09
disposed of i was told that a watch belonging to the male swede was given by david tamaheri
01:13:16
to his son i was told about trampers coming upon david tamaheri and the two swedes and
01:13:24
that at such time the female swede was visibly distressed i may have been told also about a body
01:13:32
being dumped at sea detectives wanted me to say that all of this had been told to me by david
01:13:40
tamaheri the fact of the matter is that david tamaheri never made any confession to me
01:13:47
of any kind things went too far to get out of i always intended on doing something
01:13:56
about the mistake i made by involving myself as a so-called secret witness by making this affidavit i realized that
01:14:05
i may be compromising my own best interests a violent reaction from other prisoners
01:14:11
is likely police and prison officers and other official persons may be equally unforgiving
01:14:20
they may exert pressure on me through their contact within the justice system no matter what the consequences of this
01:14:28
affidavit may be for me personally it is the interests of david tamaheri that concern me most
01:14:35
i no longer want to be associated with the fabrication of evidence used by the police in their case against david
01:14:42
tamaheri news of the retraction was leaked to the media and in a jailhouse interview
01:14:51
witness c confirmed that the details in the affidavit were true he said he decided to come forward
01:14:59
because he could no longer live with the guilt of knowing his lies might have helped convict an innocent man
01:15:08
for tamaheri's supporters this made total sense there were parts of witnesses testimony
01:15:14
that had always seemed a bit cagey certain details he included had conveniently worked perfectly to tie
01:15:22
pieces of the prosecution case together where they didn't have any other evidence to do so
01:15:29
however witness c later revoked the affidavit saying he was forced to sign it for his own protection
01:15:38
other inmates had found out that he'd testified against tamaheri and had singled him out as a jailhouse narc
01:15:46
they were now threatening to harm him and his family when witness c was later asked why he
01:15:53
didn't use the media interviews as an opportunity to announce he was under threat he replied
01:16:00
i didn't want to die the years continued to pass and to mark the 10-year anniversary since urban and
01:16:12
heidi were first reported missing those involved with the search efforts returned to crosby's clearing to lay
01:16:18
flowers and pay their respects to the couple reflecting on the case lead investigator
01:16:26
john hughes remarked it was so tragic they had come halfway around the world and they had a passion for the
01:16:34
coromandel peninsula the odds of their paths crossing with the person who was a convicted killer
01:16:40
and a rapist at that time were a million to one by 2015 david tamaheri was up for parole
01:16:51
having served almost 20 years in prison aged 57 he'd done extensive work with the psychologist had completed a sex
01:17:01
offenders program and accepted that he was an alcoholic the parole board determined that
01:17:08
tamaheri had achieved a quote remarkable breakthrough and granted his release on
01:17:14
the condition that he wear an electronic monitor and abstained from drugs and alcohol for the rest of his life
01:17:23
the hoglean and pakkanen families reluctantly accepted the decision while members of the community were divided
01:17:31
some were uncomfortable knowing the convicted double murderer was now living on their street while others trusted the
01:17:38
parole board's decision one resident commented the guy has spent the best years of his
01:17:46
life in prison as far as i'm concerned he has done his time so let him get on with his life
01:17:56
but those who supported david tamaheri's innocence one huge question remained if tamaheri didn't kill urban hoglean
01:18:05
and heidi pakinen then who did several theories linger amongst locals including that the couple fell victim to
01:18:14
a bikey gang or a trio of criminal brothers the coromandel region was a hot spot for
01:18:21
illegal cannabis growers and perhaps the couple had stumbled upon a crop and paid
01:18:27
the ultimate price to ensure their silence [Music] just before urban and heidi went missing
01:18:35
they told the owner of the thames general store that they intended to hike from tararu creek into kawaranga valley
01:18:42
where they could hitch a ride back to their car it was possible they'd gone ahead with
01:18:48
this plan and had fallen victim to whoever picked them up this could explain why their car was
01:18:55
abandoned on tararu creek road with their belongings inside and why urban's body ended up 73 kilometers away with no
01:19:04
signs of foul play leading back to the subaru according to journalist ian wishart
01:19:11
tunnel vision on david tameri had caused police to overlook an obvious suspect in early 1989 28 year old huia george
01:19:23
foley escaped from a mental health facility and ventured to waihee a small town roughly 55 kilometers southeast of
01:19:31
tams after stealing the donation money from the local church and threatening the
01:19:38
priest he took off into the bush it was an area he knew well over several weeks he walked all the way
01:19:48
to the coromandel peninsula crossing through tams and whangamata he eventually ended up at the home of an
01:19:56
old family friend in an agitated state in his possession was a european sleeping bag
01:20:06
foley stole his friend's car and drove it to auckland there he drove head-on into a parked
01:20:12
truck in what the truck driver believed to be a suicide attempt foley survived but lost an arm as a
01:20:20
result this meant that foley an unstable individual with a history of violence was traversing the bushland alone around
01:20:31
the coromandel ranges at the same time as urban and heidi what's more foley bore a striking
01:20:39
resemblance to david tamaheri both were half maori of similar height and build and had dark facial hair
01:20:50
when foley's family heard that the swedish couple had gone missing in the area they immediately suspected foley
01:20:56
could be involved his mother's response upon hearing the news was allegedly my son did that
01:21:06
they had tried to alert the police who showed zero interest years later in 2002 foley was dying of
01:21:15
kidney failure when he allegedly confessed to his mother that he was responsible for the swedish murders
01:21:24
while examining the case journalist ian wishart also uncovered another intriguing detail that had been withheld
01:21:30
from the public during urban and heidi's travels they had been welcomed into the home of a
01:21:37
couple named mary and john heaven the heavens lived on kawar island located just off the mainland roughly
01:21:45
200 kilometers by road from the coromandel kawar can only be accessed by boat and
01:21:53
has no roads and therefore no cars given that boats can freely come and go from any of the private jetties without
01:22:02
record some believe it is used to smuggle drugs around the time the swedish couple went
01:22:11
missing the heavens saw a woman who they recognised as heidi outside of their home
01:22:17
she was with the dark-haired white man and appeared to be in distress continually looking around in apparent
01:22:24
anticipation she was struggling to carry a heavy-looking backpack so mary stepped
01:22:31
in and offered to help her the man snapped don't touch her and quickly led her away
01:22:41
from heidi's body language and the look in her eyes mary believed she was trying
01:22:45
to signal a message that she was in trouble it wasn't until the heavens saw news of
01:22:52
urban and heidi's disappearance that they called in the sighting the man with heidi certainly wasn't
01:23:00
urban hog lean but it wasn't david tamaheri either although david tamaheri was now a free
01:23:11
man those who supported his innocence remained committed to clearing his name arthur taylor an inmate who served
01:23:20
alongside witness c was known as a serial litigator in 2018 taylor successfully initiated a
01:23:29
private perjury prosecution against witness c claiming that he had lied under oath that tamaheri's murder trial
01:23:38
not only had witness c swung back and forth over the years about whether his testimony was true he'd also written
01:23:45
tamaheri a letter in 2007 that said the trial evidence was all false and fabricated by the police anyway
01:23:57
taylor hoped that prosecuting witness c would deter other inmates from lying in the future
01:24:04
the jury agreed and witness c was found guilty of eight counts of perjury with a
01:24:10
further eight years added to his existing life sentence taylor remarked i think this sends a very strong message
01:24:20
to these perjurers these liars that if they get caught out they are going to get a very serious sentence
01:24:28
we have a lot of rap bags in prisons their first thought is how will i get the hell out of here
01:24:35
and they will do anything to achieve that after almost 30 years the suppression order was lifted and witnessed identity
01:24:46
was able to be revealed for the first time he was robert conscie harris a now 71
01:24:54
year old man who had been convicted in 1983 for murdering mother of three carol pye and her boyfriend trevor crossley
01:25:04
afterwards harris allegedly told his girlfriend that committing the murders was quote
01:25:11
just like having an ice cream [Music] the perjury charges against robert harris essentially eradicated the
01:25:20
witness statement that tied the prosecution's version of events together and tamaheri's case has once again been
01:25:27
referred to the court of appeal if successful he could receive a royal pardon meaning his case could be
01:25:36
reopened to determine if he was wrongfully convicted at the time of writing the appeal has
01:25:43
been delayed due to the ongoing covert 19 pandemic [Music] the case against david tamahe has always
01:25:53
been a controversial one some believe his conviction without physical evidence is representative of
01:26:00
exemplary police work while others think it was a great miscarriage of justice against an innocent man
01:26:08
then there are those that sit somewhere in the middle who believe that tamaheri was involved in obama and heidi's
01:26:15
disappearance but shouldn't have been found guilty on circumstantial evidence alone
01:26:22
those critical of the investigation believed the police were under such immense pressure to solve the case
01:26:28
quickly that they manipulated witnesses in order to charge tamaheri they improperly paraded him in front of
01:26:36
the media before any murder charges were laid influencing john cassidy and mel north to make an identification
01:26:45
they then subtly swayed jon and mel so that their encounter at crosby's clearing fit a possible interaction with
01:26:53
tamaheri and heidi they offered confidential inducements and fed information to the secret inmate
01:27:01
witnesses that conveniently filled the gaps in the prosecution's case david tamari is now waged in his late
01:27:11
60s and continues to maintain his innocence a vocal advocate against wrongful convictions he intends to fight until
01:27:21
his conviction is overturned he has appeared as a guest speaker at the international wrongful conviction
01:27:28
day wearing a t-shirt that read it happened to me it could happen to you [Music]
01:27:38
after sharing his story tamaheri became visibly emotional as he spoke of the others he'd met over the years who were
01:27:45
wrongfully convicted he hoped by speaking out he might be able to help others who found themselves
01:27:52
in his situation kamehari openly admits to the other crimes he committed including the two
01:28:01
home invasion rapes he told reporters for stuff media [Music] i don't mind doing time for stuff i've
01:28:09
done all the jail i got i deserved every day of it that's not what i'm complaining about
01:28:18
what i'm complaining about is that what happened in this murder case should never have happened and it should never
01:28:24
have been allowed to have happened at the site where obama's body was found a simple stone memorial with his name
01:28:34
carved into it rests amongst the thick grove of nakau palms in his hometown his body rests in the
01:28:43
manicured graveyard of the local church where his loved ones visit to maintain a
01:28:48
small patch of purple and red flowers heidi pakkanen's family have no sight to visit to pay their respects
01:28:59
over the years they urged david tamaheri to reveal the location of heidi's body so they could have some closure
01:29:07
but tamaheri maintained he can't tell them where she is because he didn't kill her
01:29:14
[Music] the enduring mystery of what exactly happened to her barn her gleen and heidi
01:29:22
pakkanen remains to this day even in recent years the case remains plagued with missteps that might
01:29:31
inevitably cost the truth from ever being discovered in may 2017 local bushman alan ford was
01:29:40
trekking through an isolated part of wilderness roughly 15 kilometers from where urban hoglean's body was found
01:29:49
he noticed parts of a plastic bag poking out of the ground this immediately struck him as odd given
01:29:58
the area wasn't easily accessible to the public [Music] allen pulled the bag out
01:30:06
inside were three pairs of women's leggings from their fragile condition it was clear they'd been there for a prolonged
01:30:16
period of time allen's mind immediately went to heidi packinen and the plastic bags full of
01:30:24
her clothing that had been found on the other side of the ranges he took the bag of leggings to the local
01:30:31
police station a specialist soon determined just by looking at them that the leggings
01:30:38
weren't old enough to belong to heidi allen wasn't satisfied that adequate testing had been conducted and returned
01:30:47
to the station to retrieve the leggings when he got there he was informed that they'd already been destroyed
01:30:57
news of the destruction came as a shock to forensic scientists who labelled the visual examination as inappropriate
01:31:05
appalling and lazy they believed that the clothing should have been thoroughly examined to
01:31:12
determine exactly what year they'd been discarded and to see if any dna could be
01:31:17
extracted even if it wasn't relevant to heidi's case given the remote area it could have
01:31:25
held a clue to another investigation for locals who venture around the tararu creek track heidi is never far from
01:31:36
their minds the fact that her body has never been found remains a sore point even 33 years
01:31:44
later after all this time it's not unusual for hikers and hunters to veer a little bit
01:31:51
further off the track in case they noticed something that could lead them to her
01:31:58
a volunteer who assisted in the original search party for the missing couple remarked
01:32:05
every time you go up there you find yourself looking every hunter who goes out they are not
01:32:12
just hunting for pigs or goats in the back of your mind there is always heidi [Music]
01:32:31
[Music] [Music] you