GUILTY NZ - Sean McKinnon, Australian tourist, shot dead, campervan robbery, North Islands Raglan, Aug 2019

[Arizona 123]

This looks like a horrific case, with a few similarities to the "Canadian Manhunt" "Alaska Highway" murders of Lucas Fowler, Chynna Deese, and Leonard Dyck.

Very little seems to be known at this time, other than what is in the link below. I hope they catch the killer or killers soon.

Australian tourist shot dead in New Zealand as girlfriend flees to alert police

Edit to add another news item in this case;
Australian tourist killed in New Zealand

And another edit, this time to correct my awful typos.

 

[otto]

He has been identified.

"The 33-year-old Australian tourist, who has been identified by The Age as Sean McKinnon from Victoria, was asleep in a campervan at the Te Toto Gorge carpark in Raglan the couple were woken by a stranger banging on the window.
...

A terrified Canadian woman has fled several kilometres on foot after her Australian boyfriend was shot dead in a carjacking in New Zealand."​

Fiancee of Australian tourist killed in Raglan posts eerie update before escape

 

[Trooper]

Thankyou for starting up this thread, A.

So far, it appears to be a random sole shooter, but who knows.

Could be a very angry dairy farmer. down the valley, along up river, it's lush dairy country, but .. you know, dairy farmers do it hardest of all, and a couple of tourists swanning around, upsetting the cows. I am not trying to be frivolous, but the timing struck me as odd, 3.26am. Dairy farmer time. Pitch black , too.

She is a very brave Canadian girl to run down that road in the dark. Hats off to her, in spades.

 

[Trooper]

Just a reminder, NZ is not a gun carrying nation, in the same context as Canada is not. It would be unlikely for a tourist to be armed and ammo'd up, whilst operating as a tourist, that is.

 

[otto]

Girlfriend identified as Bianca

"Mr McKinnon’s terrified fiancee, a 32-year-old Canadian woman named Bianca, who was also in the van, escaped the attack and ran several kilometres for help in the early hours of this morning.
​

​

Category: | Herald Sun

 

[otto]

Thankyou for starting up this thread, A.

So far, it appears to be a random sole shooter, but who knows.

Could be a very angry dairy farmer. down the valley, along up river, it's lush dairy country, but .. you know, dairy farmers do it hardest of all, and a couple of tourists swanning around, upsetting the cows. I am not trying to be frivolous, but the timing struck me as odd, 3.26am. Dairy farmer time. Pitch black , too.

She is a very brave Canadian girl to run down that road in the dark. Hats off to her, in spades.

Camping is not allowed, but people do it anyway.

 

[Trooper]

https://www.smh.com.au/national/vic...campervan-in-new-zealand-20190816-p52hsk.html

a bit more info .

Looks like he stole to van, and drove on about 80 klms with the dead body inside.

So.. I guess. One could ask, how did he get there up the top of the lookout, up that road ? on foot? bike? , what? or, conversely, where is his abandoned vehicle... or does he live close by?

 

[Trooper]

'The deadly shooting sparked a major manhunt and a homicide investigation in the Waikato region.

On Friday afternoon, police said they still did not know the identity of the gunman, but were "working through a number of leads".

Police are asking for anyone who saw the couple's 2017 white Toyota Hiace ZL van between the hours of 2am and 8am local time to contact police'

'working thru a number of leads' that's NZ cop talk for 'we damn well know who it is, alright, and we are in the process of tracking down all his known haunts and residences, in a manner perhaps not so polite as Mounties, but effective for the terrain here. .. '

 

[Arizona 123]

Here's a link to the parking area in google maps
Google Maps
I should mention that the view from there is spectacular (pictures do not do it justice), so I can see why people might want to camp there, especially for a surfer who might be thinking of doing a dawn patrol. The beach below (there's a trail) has a fairly famous (among surfers) left break (famous for its legnth, if I remember right).
Seeing as how a surfer was the victim, I do wonder if this might be related to a "locals only!" issue. (for those unaware, surfers can be rather territorial about their local breaks, and sometimes this dislike of non-locals surfing their breaks escalates to violence - though far more often fists than weapons.)

I've never heard of a locals-only dispute ending up this way though. So, it's an angle I think possibly, though unlikely. If it turns out the victim had boards with him, I'd raise the odds a little.

My current guess; the killer had an accomplice. It's about a 9 mile hike from the nearest town (Raglin).

 

[katydid23]

Oh My....that is a beautiful beach view. How devastating, to be sleeping peacefully in a supposed paradise, and waking up to that nightmare. Very tragic.

I hope they get that killer off the streets soon. Very frightening.

 

[Trooper]

Here's a link to the parking area in google maps
Google Maps
I should mention that the view from there is spectacular (pictures do not do it justice), so I can see why people might want to camp there, especially for a surfer who might be thinking of doing a dawn patrol. The beach below (there's a trail) has a fairly famous (among surfers) left break (famous for its legnth, if I remember right).
Seeing as how a surfer was the victim, I do wonder if this might be related to a "locals only!" issue. (for those unaware, surfers can be rather territorial about their local breaks, and sometimes this dislike of non-locals surfing their breaks escalates to violence - though far more often fists than weapons.)

I've never heard of a locals-only dispute ending up this way though. So, it's an angle I think possibly, though unlikely. If it turns out the victim had boards with him, I'd raise the odds a little.

My current guess; the killer had an accomplice. It's about a 9 mile hike from the nearest town (Raglin).

still,... the killer had to get to the van somehow. He didn't drop from the sky. It is difficult to believe he walked from Gordonstoun ( where he drove the van to ) out to this place, killed a bloke, stole his van and drove back to Gordonstoun. That doesn't work for me. 80 klms.. in the dark. .. he got to their camper somehow.

The territorial surfing thing has a lot of operative signals going for it. It is a bit of a thing, not on a grand scale, like in California, for example, but it is a bit of a thing, in a small way , in NZ. It certainly has a lot of logic as an operative theory, ..

An accomplice. What a dangerous thing an accomplice is, really. They will turn tail at the most inopportune moments. That could be the break needed.

 

[they'll get you]

https://www.smh.com.au/national/vic...campervan-in-new-zealand-20190816-p52hsk.html

a bit more info .

Looks like he stole to van, and drove on about 80 klms with the dead body inside.

So.. I guess. One could ask, how did he get there up the top of the lookout, up that road ? on foot? bike? , what? or, conversely, where is his abandoned vehicle... or does he live close by?

I’m also being reminded of Peter Falconio & Joanne Lees here.
Joanne escaped whilst Peter was taken away in the Combi, somewhere. Combi dumped & Peter never found.

 

[Trooper]

I’m also being reminded of Peter Falconio & Joanne Lees here.
Joanne escaped whilst Peter was taken away in the Combi, somewhere. Combi dumped & Peter never found.

Murdoch is never going to tell , is he, TGY. He'd rather go without parole.

It reminded me of that crime immediately. NZ isn't the Kimberley, though. The NZ police have a firm grip on a small population there, and a stranger on foot would stick out like a fish in a tree. Unless, of course, an accomplice picked him up in town. .

 

[Arizona 123]

still,... the killer had to get to the van somehow. He didn't drop from the sky. It is difficult to believe he walked from Gordonstoun ( where he drove the van to ) out to this place, killed a bloke, stole his van and drove back to Gordonstoun. That doesn't work for me. 80 klms.. in the dark. .. he got to their camper somehow.

The territorial surfing thing has a lot of operative signals going for it. It is a bit of a thing, not on a grand scale, like in California, for example, but it is a bit of a thing, in a small way , in NZ. It certainly has a lot of logic as an operative theory, ..

An accomplice. What a dangerous thing an accomplice is, really. They will break down at the most inopportune moments. That could be the break needed.

I've only been to NZ a few times, and not recently, so I have no clue how serious their "locals only" issues get. If I had to bet, I'd bet you're right. I only surfed a couple of times while there, and not anywhere near Raglin. I saw no signs of any problems of that nature, but I wasn't on the prime breaks, either (I'm not that good).

I agree on the distances. At 3am, anyway. It wouldn't have surprised me as much at 3pm; somebody catching a ride out with friends, etc. But 3am... unless the killer is from one of the few homes nearby, there has to be other transportation involved IMHO.

I wonder if any accomplice might be seen as a loose end by the killer. That kind of thing has happened before.
Ditching the van in Hamilton is interesting. When I stayed in Hamilton, it was a pretty safe place from what I could see, but I've heard its crime rate is going up. I think it would be very stupid of the killer to leave a huge sign like that to their home area, but a lot of killers are, well, about as smart as a box of rocks.

 

[JudgeJudi]

The stranger smashed his way into the vehicle and reportedly demanded their keys before shooting Mr McKinnon multiple times.

His terrified fiancee managed to escape, running several kilometres to alert police.

The gunman drove with the Mr McKinnon’s body in the campervan for about 80km, before ditching it at Gordonton.

Police were alerted to the incident at 3.20am, locating the abandoned van and Mr McKinnon’s body on Gordonton Rd about 8am.

According to Facebook, Mr McKinnon is originally from Nirranda, near Warrnambool, and the couple have been engaged since 2017.

Insp Pitkethley said, “This is a random attack by, at this stage, what we can attribute to a sole offender, but due to the circumstances of the attack, it is likely that he has confided in members of his community”.



Australian tourist killed in New Zealand

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean was a talented surfer and musician, working hard across Australia in order to fund his international travels.

Bianca has been living in Auckland, working as a midwife while volunteering as a yoga teacher.

Wanderlust had brought them together — they met on a surfing trip in South America — and they regularly travelled together.

Bianca said, “Sean was completely unique. He lived totally for the moment”.

NoCookies | The Australian

The similarities between Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese and this couple are quite remarkable. Both couples were free spirits, met while travelling overseas, worked to save for their next adventure, in love, both girls doing volunteer work and both couples travelled to South America.

 

[10ofRods]

Sounds like this killer may have left a few more clues for police, given that he actually drove the van, probably in a place where he has connections.

Awaiting more details. So terribly sad.

 

[JudgeJudi]

A homicide investigation is now open and a massive manhunt is under way in the Waikato region for the male offender. All local police officers have been ordered to carry their guns until the man is caught.

Police refused to comment on whether the shooting was a robbery gone wrong, and said the lone attacker was not known to either victim.

Random shootings are very rare in New Zealand and thousands of tourists travel safely in camper vans every year, with many choosing to park their vans on the side of roads, in parks and in recreational areas.



Australian tourist shot dead in camper van in New Zealand

 

[dotr]

Did the perp rip a page from the Cam and Bryer book of lunacy?
Canadian woman 'shocked and distressed' after murder of fiance in New Zealand

A manhunt is underway after an Australian tourist was found dead in his van near the village of Gordonton, in the country's North Island

 

[JudgeJudi]

SM was shot multiple times during the attack.
A post mortem will be conducted on Friday afternoon.

Australian man's body found inside a stolen campervan in Hamilton New Zealand as police hunt shooter | Daily Mail Online