Story: Violent crime

In 1841 Maketū Wharetōtara murdered five people in Elizabeth Roberton's household, where he was working, at Motuarohia (Roberton) Island in the Bay of Islands. His victims included Isabella Brind, the granddaughter of Ngāpuhi leader Rewa. Maketū took refuge in the village of his father, Ruhe, who decided to deliver his son to the police and avoid conflict with Rewa. While Maketū pleaded not guilty in court, he had previously made several confessions, citing disrespect and ill-treatment from Roberton and her servant Thomas Bull as the reason for the murders. He was executed on 7 March 1842 and initially buried in the grounds of Auckland jail. Later Ruhe succeeded in getting his son’s remains exhumed and buried with other family members in the Bay of Islands.