32case filesUpdated Jul 14, 2026
Casepin holds 32 case files in New Zealand. By legal status, 5 marked unsolved, 1 marked ongoing, 22 marked solved and 4 marked overturned.
Credit: stug.stugCC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenMaungatapu track, near Nelson, South Island, New Zealand · 1866
In June 1866, five men were robbed and killed in two attacks on the Maungatapu track near Nelson, New Zealand; three men were convicted and hanged and a fourth was convicted after an accomplice turned informant.
Credit: James CowanPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenŌpōtiki, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand · 1865
German-born missionary Carl Völkner was tried and executed by Pai Mārire (Hauhau) members of Te Whakatōhea in Ōpōtiki in 1865 on suspicion of spying for the Crown; the killing triggered a punitive government military expedition, land confiscation, and the wrongful conviction and execution of chief Mokomoko, who was posthumously pardoned in 1993.
Credit: PhantomwikiCC BY-SA 3.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenPukekawa, Waikato, New Zealand · 1970s
Harvey and Jeannette Crewe, a farming couple, were shot dead in their Pukekawa, New Zealand home around 17 June 1970. Farmer Arthur Allan Thomas was twice convicted of the murders, but a Royal Commission later found police had fabricated evidence to convict him; he was pardoned in 1979. The case remains officially unsolved.
Credit: Archives New Zealand from New ZealandCC BY-SA 2.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenTasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand · 1928
Lieutenant John Moncrieff and Captain George Hood disappeared on 10 January 1928 while attempting the first trans-Tasman flight from Australia to New Zealand in their aircraft Aotearoa. Radio signals ceased after about 12 hours and, despite extensive searches over the following decades, no trace of the men or their plane has ever been found.
Massey, Auckland, New Zealand · 2020
New Zealand Police Constable Matthew Hunt was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Massey, Auckland, on 19 June 2020. Eli Epiha pleaded guilty to his murder, and Natalie Bracken was convicted as an accessory after the fact.
SOLVEDListenDunedin, New Zealand · 2008
In January 2008, 22-year-old Sophie Elliott was fatally stabbed at her family home in Dunedin, New Zealand, by her former boyfriend, who was convicted of her murder in 2009.
SOLVEDListenMarsden Wharf, Port of Auckland, New Zealand · 1985
On 10 July 1985, French intelligence agents bombed the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior at Auckland's Marsden Wharf, drowning photographer Fernando Pereira and triggering a major diplomatic scandal.
115 Bassett Road, Remuera, Auckland · 1963
Kevin James Speight and Frederick George Walker, two men connected to Auckland's illegal after-hours liquor trade, were shot dead at a house on Bassett Road in Remuera in December 1963; Ronald Jorgensen and John Gillies were convicted of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment.
SOLVEDListenVictoria Park, Christchurch, New Zealand · 1954
Honorah Rieper was bludgeoned to death in Victoria Park, Christchurch, on 22 June 1954 by her teenage daughter Pauline Parker and Parker's friend Juliet Hulme, who feared being separated from one another.
Credit: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3605891Editorial useSourceUNSOLVEDListenPiha, West Auckland, New Zealand · 2004
Iraena Asher, a 25-year-old Auckland trainee teacher and model, disappeared near Piha beach in the early hours of 11 October 2004 after calling police for help; she was never found, and a police investigation later concluded she most likely drowned.
The files run from 1809 to 2023. The 2000s hold the most, with 8 files. The oldest is Killing of Carl Völkner, from 1865.
By type, the largest groups are murder and homicide cases (26), mass shooting cases (4) and disappearance cases (4).
4 files of the 32 have coverage attached: 7 videos, podcasts and documentaries from 4 creators. Coffeehouse Crime, Dr. Todd Grande and That Chapter have covered the most of them.
Every file is written from cited sources and pinned where it happened, and every person named carries the legal status the record gives them. If you hold information about an unsolved case, contact the investigating agency named in its file rather than posting it publicly. Families and anyone involved can request a correction from any file.
Auckland CBD aerial 2016 (cropped) — Credit: Unknown authorCC0Source
Bain family memorial — Credit: BenchillCC BY-SA 3.0Source
Christchurch attack magazines duo — Credit: Brenton TarrantPublic domainSource
File:Maungatapu Monument 01.jpg — Credit: stug.stugCC BY-SA 3.0Source
Volkners church opotiki — Credit: James CowanPublic domainSource
Crewegraves2013 — Credit: PhantomwikiCC BY-SA 3.0Source
Search map for missing aviators George Hood & John Moncrieff — Credit: Archives New Zealand from New ZealandCC BY-SA 2.0Source
Waikino school (cropped) — Credit: Unknown, likely New Zealand policePublic domainSource
Aramoana massacre memorial — Credit: BenchillCC BY-SA 3.0Source
32. By status: 5 unsolved, 1 ongoing, 22 solved and 4 overturned. The count covers published files only and changes as new files clear review.
Killing of Carl Völkner, from 1865. Open the file
Coffeehouse Crime (2 cases), Dr. Todd Grande (2 cases) and That Chapter (1 case), among 4 creators in all.
It rebuilds hourly from the published files; the newest file change here is dated Jul 14, 2026. A status changes only when the record behind it does.
