Ian David Moller, 82, died after an arson attack in November 2024. Photo: Supplied
The niece of a Stokes Valley man who died after an arson attack says it is hard to find peace and move on while the person responsible is still out there.
Ian David Moller, 82, was critically injured when his block of flats on Hanson Grove in Lower Hutt was set on fire in the early hours of 5 November 2024.
It was the latest of three suspicious fires at the block in a month.
Now, charges against a person relating to the first blaze at the flats have been dropped.
That fire came before the one that claimed Moller's life.
It's 'just not right' - family member
Moller's niece Denise Harrison is adding her voice to the police plea to the public for more information to catch the culprit.
"Had my uncle died at 82 of an illness or just old age, I could have reconciled that a lot more easily. But it did occur to me when I was speaking at his funeral that the circumstances of this were just not right."
It was hard to find closure when the person who lit the fire was still out there, she said.
"The fact that he's died in the way that he has died is constantly in your thoughts."
She was sure her uncle had been collateral damage, and said he was not the kind of person to get on anyone's bad side.
He was a regular at church, prayer meetings and coffee groups, his friends spoke fondly of him at the funeral.
Moller had a love of history, was proud of his Norwegian heritage, and had co-founded the Wellington Scandinavian Club.
Harrison said she was touched by the fact that the name given to the case by police, Operation Sove, was a nod to her uncle.
"Sove is actually the Norwegian word for sleep," she said.
"And of course he was pulled out of the fire while he was sleeping."
She wanted closure, but also the safety of the community.
"To find somebody would not only put me a little bit at peace in terms of finding someone who was responsible for this horrendous act, but of course, if somebody is inclined to go around lighting fires knowing that they are putting someone's life at risk, what's to say that person is not continuing to do those things?"
She asked the public to think back, and tell the police if they had seen anything out of the ordinary around Hanson Grove that day.
And her message to whoever started that fire was: "How would you feel? Because I certainly still remember the police knocking on my door that day ... and probably will never forget that."
21-year-old has charges dropped
The fire was the third arson attack at the block of flats in the space of a month, after fires on 10 and 14 October.
A 21-year-old man arrested in relation to the first fire appeared in the Hutt Valley District Court last week, but the charge was dropped, with the prosecution citing insufficient evidence to proceed.
Police said at the time of the arrest they had not established a connection between the three arsons.
A hearing regarding permanent name suppression for the 21-year-old is scheduled to be held in March.
Police are still seeking help from the public, in particular, about a vehicle and a cyclist seen in the area at the time of the 5 November fire.
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