A drone being used by emergency services to inspect the Loafers Lodge hostel on 16 May, 2023 after the fire. Photo: RNZ/ Angus Dreaver
A judge is deciding whether the man charged with murder and arson over the Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington should continue to have name suppression.
Five people died and nearly 100 others were left homeless by the blaze at the multi-storey budget accommodation in May.
The 48-year-old accused appeared this morning via audio-visual link to the High Court at Wellington.
He has not yet entered pleas to the five charges of murder, one of setting fire to the lodge, and one of setting fire to a couch.
Justice Christine Grice acknowledged the small number of survivors who attended this morning's hearing, and reserved her decision on whether to grant interim name suppression.
The case will next be heard in December. A trial date has been set for August next year.
The victims of the fire were Michael Wahrlich, 67, known to many as 'Mike the Juggler'; Melvin Joseph Parun, 68; Peter Glenn O'Sullivan, 64; Kenneth Barnard, 67; and Liam Hockings, 50.
