New Zealand police have charged a 23-year-old man with murder after an Australian campervan tourist was shot dead on the west coast of the North Island.
Victorian man Sean McKinnon, 33, was in the rented vehicle with his Canadian girlfriend early on Friday morning in Raglan, a surfing town in Waikato, when a man demanded the key to the van.
The ABC reports that police say the man then fired several shots into the campervan before driving off in the stolen vehicle with Mr McKinnon inside. Mr McKinnon’s body was found inside the campervan, almost 80 kilometres away.
His partner, Bianca Buckley, escaped and alerted police, sparking a manhunt.
The suspected gunman was arrested after police carried out a search warrant at a property at Tauhei on the outskirts of Hamilton on Friday night.
He has been charged with murder, aggravated robbery and threats to kill.
Detective Inspector Graham Pitkethley said the accused would appear in Hamilton District Court today.
“This is a traumatic time for his family and his partner and the New Zealand police we will do everything we can to provide them with support they need,” police said in a statement.
The New Zealand Herald reported Mr McKinnon’s mother, brother and four sisters were due to fly to the country last night.
The fiancée of McKinnon, who was from south-west Victoria, the Australian’s fiancee had been left ‘completely numb’ by the tragedy.
