Justice in doubt: The killing of Brian Hilton
About this episode
This episode revisits the violent death of Brian Hilton and the subsequent miscarriage of justice involving Harry Matchitt.
In 2016, 77-year-old pensioner Brian Hilton was found on the floor of his Ōpōtiki home — brutally beaten, barely conscious, and covered in blood. He died five days later. Police launched a major homicide investigation, first zeroing in on one local man before turning their attention to another: Harry Matchitt. A beer bottle found in Hilton’s lounge carried Matchitt’s DNA, and after a series of police interviews, the lifelong Mongrel Mob member made a hazy admission — saying he was “pissed” and may have “pushed and kicked” the elderly man. In 2021, a jury found him guilty of manslaughter. But two years later, the Court of Appeal ruled his conviction unsafe. The judges found his statements to police likely inadmissible, meaning a miscarriage of justice had occurred. The conviction was quashed — and Matchitt walked free. In this episode of A Moment in Crime , senior journalists Anna Leask and Jared Savage revisit the violent death of Brian Hilton, the conviction that fell apart, and what became of Matchitt after the case collapsed. Savage also reflects on two decades covering crime and justice, and his work investigating New…
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