Tauranga man accused of 1987 tavern murder named

Chris Bush.

One of the two men charged with the murder of Chris Bush in 1987 can now be named as Mark Joseph Hoggart.

Father-of-two Chris Bush, 43, was shot and killed at the Red Fox Tavern in Maramarua, north Waikato.

Last year, police announced they had charged two men in relation to the killing.

Hoggart, a 58-year-old from Tauranga, lost his bid to keep his identity secret on Wednesday.

He is charged with murder and aggravated robbery.

His alleged co-offender's identity is still suppressed.

News reports at the time of the murder said Bush was having a drink just after closing time when two heavily-disguised men burst into the bar, yelling "this is a hold-up".

Bush stood up to protect one of the barmaids when he was shot by a man with a double-barrelled shotgun.

The men then allegedly forced a staff member to search Bush's pockets for the key to the safe, then took about $20,000 before ransacking the bar.

Despite a number of suspects being questioned, no arrests were made and the case ran cold.

In July, police announced they were re-opening the file, and in August, the two men were arrested.

Both men have plead not-guilty and will go to trial in April next year.

- Stuff/ TOMMY LIVINGSTON

You may also like....

1 comment

Whodunit

Posted on 04-07-2018 19:25 | By myview

Will the accused be a gang member as local thinking was at the time of the murder?? Great work police force, keep it up.


Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.