BACKGROUND: WIKIPEDIA: "Pora was a prolific car thief[12] and almost a year later, he was arrested for failing to attend court. In the course of a "general conversation" with a police officer, Pora "told him of his troubled life, told the officer he wanted to go straight, that he felt unwanted by his family and that he knew he was being sought by the Mongrel Mob and police".[13] After police told him there was a reward of $20,000 for assistance in capturing Susan Burdett's murderer, Pora claimed he knew who committed the crime. He said he drove two Mongrel Mob members to the house and acted as lookout while they went inside.[14] Pora did not give the names of the Mongrel Mob members, but when police put two names to him, he went along with these suggestions.[12] Later on, police determined the two Mongrel Mob members both had alibis and their DNA did not match that found in the body. The DNA came from Malcolm Rewa but police did not learn that until four years later.[14] After claiming he was at the scene, Pora was held for the next four days during which he was questioned about the case for 14 hours without a lawyer.[10]During the course of this drawn out interview, much of which was recorded on video, he frequently changed his story about what happened. After initially claiming he acted as a lookout for the two "Mongrel Mob members", he later said he went into the house after "hearing noises and seeing the crimes being carried out". Still later, he said he held Burdett down by the arms while the others raped her.[4] Pora was subsequently charged with Burdett's rape and murder. In 1995, once Pora was in prison, he provided three more names to police after they offered him another $50,000 and said they would help when he came up for parole....First trial 1994: No finger prints, DNA, or any other direct evidence linking Pora to the murder scene were produced in court.[16] Nevertheless, despite the contradictory nature of Pora's 'confessions', the Crown successfully argued at his trial that no one would confess to being involved in such a brutal rape and murder if they were not actually involved. His aunt, Terry McLaughlin,[17] was a key Crown witness at the trial.[9] Court documents showed she was paid $5000 to testify against him at the trial.[10] Police have refused Official Information Act requests about payments made to other witnesses against Pora but the NZ Herald reports that a minimum of three witnesses were paid and received a total of $15,000. "Conviction of Malcolm Rewa for rape: In 1999, Malcolm Rewa was convicted of raping Susan Burdett after semen at the crime scene was found to be his. He was also found guilty of raping numerous other women and currently serves preventive detention for these attacks.[19]
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PODCAST ARTICLE: A Moment In Crime: Miscarriage of justice - the murder of Susan Burdett, published by The New Zealand Herald, on April 22, 2022.
GIST: "In 1992, Susan Burdett was found dead in her South Auckland home.
The 39-year-old had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a baseball bat she kept by her bed for protection.
Susan's story was awful and tragic but would become much more so when the wrong man was convicted of her murder and jailed for more than 20 years.
In this month's episode of Herald podcast A Moment In Crime, senior journalist Anna Leask looks into the death of Susan Burdett and the botched police investigation that led to Teina Pora being arrested and charged a year later.
Pora, a 17-year-old petty criminal, confessed to the murder after hearing about a significant reward offered by police for information that would lead to the killer being identified.
But there was no other evidence linking Pora to the scene and his confession was jumbled, vague and changed by the minute.
Two juries went on to convict Pora before an ex-detective got involved and fought for him to be freed.
It was not until after the Privy Council quashed Pora's convictions that the real killer - serial rapist Malcolm Rewa - was held to account.
Rewa had been found guilty of raping Susan years earlier but two juries could not agree on whether he was behind the murder.
Once Pora had been exonerated Rewa faced a third trial and was finally found guilty of the brutal crime.
His guilty verdict came just after the 30-year anniversary of Susan's death.
A Moment In Crime is written and hosted by Anna Leask, senior crime reporter for the Herald.
Leask has been covering crime and justice for the Herald for more than 16 years and has reported on most of the major incidents and events in New Zealand over that time.
"Each month I'll take you inside some of our most infamous incidents, notorious offenders and behind the scenes of high profile trials and events to show you what's really happening in your backyard," she said.
"Heroes and villains battle for justice to be done, and it seems no matter how horrifying the story, we always want to know more.
"If you want to know more about the cases that have shocked and shaped our nation - from murders and massacres to violent villains and the utterly unbelievable - join me for A Moment In Crime."
In our first episode, we looked back at the Christchurch terror attack - what unfolded on March 15 and how it changed New Zealand.
Miscarriage of justice - the murder of Susan Burdett
Apr 21, 2022 • 57 min
Th entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
