David Robinson

Map showing where Robinson’s body was found.

On 28 December 1998, the body of 25-year-old David Robinson was found on Kakapotahi Beach on the West Coast of the South Island, about 40 kilometres south of Hokitika. He had been killed execution style with a single gunshot wound to the forehead, likely from a .22 calibre rifle. A right foot size-12 boot with the shoelaces tied together was found near the body.

Robinson was born in Tokoroa and loved the outdoors from a young age. His family moved around a lot. Robinson struggled at school due to learning difficulties and bullying.

At 18, Robinson left home, keen to start his own life. He lived in Tairua with an uncle for a time, before falling in with a bad crowd and running afoul of the Police, who told Robinson and his friends to leave town. The Police asked Robinson’s parents, Joan and John, if they would consider having him back living with them. They declined but helped Robinson by buying him various items that he would need for his new life. A cousin gave Robinson a lift out of Tairua. This was the last time his parents saw him alive: seven years before his death. They tried to keep contact with Robinson, but contact was very much on his terms, and he was often unreachable.

Robinson lived an itinerant lifestyle. He often slept rough and was known to walk long distances at night and keep a low profile during the day. Intact fingerprints taken from his body led investigators straight to his criminal record; Robinson had a lengthy history of petty crime and had been arrested two months earlier near Haast on theft charges. He skipped bail after appearing in court in Greymouth. No one had seen him since.

There was disagreement amongst Police about whether Robinson’s body had been in the sea. If the body had been in the ocean, it could have arrived on Kakapotahi Beach from anywhere, while if it hadn’t been in the sea, Robinson likely died where his body was found, or nearby.

Empty food containers and wrappers were found on the beach, suggesting Robinson had been staying there, but there was little else to connect him to the area.

Approximately one week into the investigation, a matching left size 12 boot was found about 8km north of where Robinson’s body was found. Two days later, a sleeping mat thought to be Robinson’s was found on a beach 10km north of Ross. The way these items were dispersed supported the theory that Robinson’s body had been in the water.

Using information from the public and entomological evidence, Police were able to estimate that Robinson died approximately ten days before his body was found.

Theories abound about Robinson’s death. There was speculation that it could be suicide; Wayne Stringer, who headed the original Police investigation, believes that Robinson died by suicide. Stringer cited accounts from cell mates and medical records from when Robinson was on remand in Greymouth, which show that he suffered severe headaches. Stringer pointed out that a .22 calibre rifle was missing from a bach near where Robinson’s body was found and theorised that he might have ended his life when the headaches became unbearable. As to the missing rifle, it could have been washed away by heavy seas in the days before the body was found.

After Robinson left Tairua, he apparently got offside with a gang. It is possible that a person or persons harboured a grudge against him.

There have been reports that Robinson was seriously assaulted by two trainee chefs in the days leading up to his death, possibly at a party in the Nelson Quay area of Greymouth.

Robinson died at the height of the cannabis season. One grower, who was known to be a violent man, was looked at closely by Police but had an alibi.

The Police looked closely at another man. He had a history of violent crimes. He and a companion had been staying at a bach south of Kakapotahi for several months before Robinson’s death. The pair were from South Canterbury.

Mike MacManus, the sole Police officer at Ross, said of this man, “You always treat every east coaster that goes to these remote places at certain times of year as . . . it ain’t normal…He was definitely one person I actually thought was a likely suspect”

The man’s companion disappeared when a dinghy the pair were in capsized after being swept out to sea. The man managed to swim back to shore. There was no evidence his companion’s fate was suspicious.

The unexpected, unusual cleanliness of the man’s home struck MacManus. He commented, “By the time we got there, [to the bach after the drowning] . . . his place was perfectly cleaned up. Two rough guys like that living together definitely would have been dope smokers, and it was very, very clean.”

When Robinson died, the man was still at the bach, though not a full-time resident. He made a habit of calling on MacManus to drop off some whitebait and took an unnatural interest in the case.

The man died in a farm accident in 2004.

Some years after the original investigation an anonymous letter was sent to the Police Commissioner with details about Robinson’s murder. The letter named a person of interest, a location of interest and a vehicle of interest. Police are appealing for the anonymous letter writer to come forward.

Robinson’s parents commented, “We know that even though he died in a horrible way, he died in a beautiful place…Maybe John and I did things wrong. We’re always going to regret that we didn’t do things right. I think if we had our time over we’d do things completely different but you don’t, do you?”

If you have any information about the murder of David Robinson, please phone the Police Cold Case investigators on 0800 2653 2273

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