New intelligence gives fresh momentum to 35-year murder case

The team investigating the 1991 murder of Andrew Maaka says the case has become a "promising" active inquiry with fresh lines potentially linked to organised crime networks in West Auckland.

Maaka, a 29-year-old Head Hunters gang prospect, disappeared in November 1991 after reporting for bail at the Henderson police station.

While Maaka’s last official contact with police was reporting for bail on the morning of November 4 1991, he was documented as being alive at a Guy Fawkes party at the Head Hunters' headquarters the following night.

Investigators injected fresh momentum into the file last Thursday by launching a renewed public appeal under Operation Clarity.

Speaking with William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Callum McNeill, a Detective Inspector of Waitemāta Police, says the link they have discovered to organised crime networks is significant.

“It's something that we've got a team of detectives working on at the moment and it looks promising but it's something we've got to flesh out. We've got to thoroughly investigate,” McNeill says.

McNeill is also confident that Maaka’s death involved foul play, and that his body has been hidden somewhere.

“I'm always hopeful that we can get some closure for Andrew Maaka's whānau. Our end goal is to try and find Andrew Maaka, return him to his whānau and if we can hold those to account that they've killed him.”

During the initial stages of the case, Henderson detectives encountered an immediate roadblock in 1991 when Head Hunters members refused to cooperate, with one patched member claiming they never heard of Maaka.

Callum McNeill is hopeful about solving what happened to Andrew Maaka. Photo/File

Subsequent warrants at the gang headquarters and a Titirangi property uncovered a concealed firearm and drugs hidden up a tree.

Investigators also tracked a black-and-white Chrysler Valiant that Maaka regularly drove, which was sold outside the pad in December 1991, shortly after he vanished.

Police had already accumulated two large files of leads by 1995, just four years after Maaka’s disappearance.

Andrew Maaka. Photo/NZ Police

Over the total 35-year span, investigators have continually reviewed the cold case file and followed up on various tips regarding locations and people of interest as they came to light.

Despite extensive inquiries over three decades, no credible sightingsof Maaka have been confirmed since he was last seen on 4 November 1991

In an interview with RNZ, KC, Maaka’s sister, said the family grief had a toll on their late mother. She also says her brother was a victim of childhood trauma and hopes his surviving children can find closure to break a painful cycle.

KC, the sister of Andrew Maaka, says her brother was a victim of childhood trauma. Photo/Unsplash

McNeill says even though Maaka was gang affiliated, that he was an affectionate family member. He refers to Maaka, the oldest of six siblings, as a “likeable rogue” whose volatility expressed mostly in the gang scene.

“He was very affectionate towards his siblings. He loved his nephews [and] nieces. He would regularly play with them. He was a good person to the family.”

“He loved having a beer. He loved socialising with family. He played the guitar. He was a good person to them, and that's why it's really important that we get some closure for them.”

Watch Callum McNeill’s full interview below.

McNeill says after 35 years of Maaka’s case, that allegiances change and that this has likely rested on someone’s conscience over that time.

“Now's the time to come forward to the police. Tell us what you know. If you happen to be there when that happened, let us know where Andrew is. Let us know who was responsible. That's our general appeal for information over the last week.

“We never let any investigation go. We just keep following up the leads as they come to light. We'll follow this through to the end until it takes us no further. I'm just really hopeful that we'll get a positive outcome in this case for Andrew's whanau.”

The public can contact the police online or via the 105 phone line using reference number 920217/9553 .

Information can also be provided anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.