Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom
Police are asking for the public's help to locate the firearm that was used to murder West Coast man David Robinson, nearly three decades ago.
The body of 25-year-old Robinson was found on a remote West Coast beach near Ross in December 1998 and a homicide investigation was launched, but no-one has been held responsible for his death.
Detective Inspector Geoff Baber says police have never located the .22 calibre firearm used to murder Robinson.
For more than 25 years, the investigation has remained unresolved, prompting police to review the case and undertake further enquires.
Since the beginning of the initial investigation, police have known Robinson was shot once in the head with a .22 calibre firearm.
Baber said around two weeks before Robinson's body was found, between 14 and 18 December, a single gunshot was heard by numerous people in the settlement of Kakapotahi.
Since the investigation was reopened last month, police had received a number of firearms from individuals who owned them in the Kakapotahi area at the time.
They are now conducting forensic examinations on these firearms to rule out those not used in his murder.
"For the purpose of our investigation, we ask for people to get in touch, let us know who may have these firearms now, and whether police could take them temporarily for the purpose of conducting a forensic examination.
"It is not too late to provide David's family with answers - if you know something, we encourage you to come forward and speak with us."
Baber told Checkpoint that police knew it was a "bit of a long shot".
"We appreciate that it's been 26 years, but it's one of those things where people in that Westland area have actually been very co-operative and very helpful with the investigation, so we are hoping that people who were in the area at the time can come forward and hopefully further our investigation."
Baber said there was no indications that Robinson had taken his own life.
"There are a number of factors that led us to believe that it was murder and that is very much how we've progressed this investigation. So somebody knows what's happened
"We know that David was seen in and around the area, so it wasn't like he was hiding.
"He was camping in the area at the time, he would have been seen by people, and anybody who sighted David is somebody we'd like to speak to, if we haven't already."
Baber said there were no current suspects, but police remained confident the nearly three-decade old murder can be solved.
Police want to hear from anyone who owned a .22 firearm in the Kakapotahi area at the time, or knew someone in the wider area who had such a firearm.
