Murder of Urban Höglin and Heidi Paakkonen, Thames
Facts and practical information
Swedish tourists Sven Urban Höglin, 23, and his fiancée Heidi Birgitta Paakkonen, 21, disappeared while tramping on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand in 1989. Police, residents, and military personnel conducted the largest land-based search undertaken in New Zealand, attempting to find the couple. In December 1990, David Wayne Tamihere was convicted of murdering the pair, and sentenced to life imprisonment based largely on the testimony of three prison inmates. Höglin's body was discovered in 1991, revealing evidence which contradicted the police case against Tamihere, who has always maintained he is innocent of the murders and filed a series of unsuccessful appeals during the 1990s. Tamihere was released on parole in November 2010 after serving 20 years. In 2017, Secret Witness C, one of the former prisoners who had testified against Tamihere at his murder trial, was found guilty of perjury. On 26 April 2018, the identity of Witness C was revealed as Robert Conchie Harris. He had originally been convicted of the double murder of a couple in 1983. ()
Thames
Murder of Urban Höglin and Heidi Paakkonen – popular in the area (distance from the attraction)
Nearby attractions include: Kauaeranga Valley, Thames School of Mines, Kopu Bridge.