Police have dismissed any suggestion the alleged murder of Bay of Plenty politician Hawea Vercoe was gang related.
Preliminary post-mortem results also reveal Hawea died after sustaining a fatal brain injury, say police.
Detective senior sergeant Greg Standen says the gang connection rumour has been circulating in Whakatane and the wider Bay of Plenty area.

Ngaire Wilson (parnter of Hiki Ngamoki), Diana O'Brien (identical twin to Hawea's mother Rosalind), Hiki Ngamoki (adopted brother to Hawea), Moerangi Vercoe gather outside Whakatane Courthouse on Monday. Picture: Whakatane Beacon.

'Following yesterday's court appearance, we believe there are a number of reports circulating regarding possible gang connections to the homicide.
Any such reports are completely untrue and we want to reassure members of the public that there are no gang connections to this homicide. Potential gang links were disregarded by the investigation team early in the inquiry,” says Greg.
He says it is a tragic case of a simple night out for two individuals, which has gone terribly wrong.