Man freed after 10 years in jail for murder he did not commit

Aug 23, 2006, 8:02 GMT

Wellington - Rex Haig, a 59-year-old New Zealander who spent nearly 10 years in jail for a murder he did not commit, was cleared Wednesday by the Court of Appeal, which quashed his conviction.

Haig, who was jailed in 1995 for killing a fellow worker on his fishing boat, had always proclaimed his innocence and at one time joined with other prisoners to take six guards hostage with fake explosives to draw attention to his case.

He was released on parole in 2004 after his nephew, who was also on the boat at the time, had backtracked on evidence he gave at Haig's trial and admitted that he was responsible for the death.

The nephew, David Hogan, who was 18 at the time, was paid 13,000 New Zealand dollars (about 8,320 US dollars) and given immunity from prosecution for testifying that Haig was the killer.

A petition to Parliament later claimed that Hogan had admitted the killing five times and 12 people had directly or indirectly testified that he was solely responsible for the murder.

The Court of Appeal said that although the murder remained unresolved, Haig should not face a retrial, which is its normal ruling in cases of doubt.

Haig said that as a Christian, he was 'now inclined to forgive and forget.'

'That's really the finish of it as far as I'm concerned,' he told Radio New Zealand.