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Johnsonville murder victim Matthew Hall captured on CCTV. - Source: ONE News -
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Police investigating a Wellington murder enlisted the help of the United States Government to order Facebook to hand over the personal pages of suspects.
Next Wednesday will mark one year since Matthew Hall, 35, was found stabbed to death in his flat in Broderick St, Johnsonville. Nobody has been charged over the killing.
Only one detective remains assigned to the case and the investigation is now being reviewed by a detective inspector. The review, in progress since December, will decide if the investigation is complete and whether it will proceed to the coroner's court.
In April, The Dominion Post reported that Tim Parlane, 27, of Lower Hutt, had confessed to a woman he was dating that he had murdered Hall after the pair fell out. He was hit by a train hours after he was released from police questioning.
The woman said she had warned police that Parlane had threatened suicide if they were to interview him.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Thornton, told The Dominion Post this week he was confident the case would be resolved. Analysis of computers belonging to Hall and those whom police believed might be connected with his death had formed a crucial part of the investigation.
"Through the assistance of the American Government we went to Facebook and, through their legal processes, we got access to all the Facebook information - which is what helped us. It was of great assistance."
Of particular use to them were Facebook messages sent to people of interest in the inquiry, Thornton said.
Police would not say what was in the messages. They also contacted internet giant Microsoft to gain access to Hotmail email accounts and tracked down those who had contacted Parlane on internet dating sites.
Crown Law contacted the US Government on the police's behalf. US authorities then went to court and had a warrant issued against Facebook, which released the information.
"That's quite a long process," Thornton said. "We got that back just before Christmas."
The FBI and the Australian Federal Police had tested hundreds of forensic samples from the case, along with local agencies. Evidence examined by the FBI included a foot imprint found in dust at the murder scene.
"It's all back. Some of it's helped us ... it hasn't made a dramatic breakthrough for us."
The investigation is being reviewed by Wellington CIB Detective Inspector Paul Basham and was expected to be completed "very soon".
While police would not confirm that Parlane was the main suspect, they said: "He's a person of interest."
"It's very difficult for us now to corroborate some of the things he said without being able to speak to him."
The confessions Parlane had given to two different women differed from one another, Thornton said.
"And some of the things he's described at the scene ... some of it is consistent, some of it isn't consistent.
"But we don't see it as a cold case. It will be resolved."
Independent Police Conduct Authority chairwoman Justice Lowell Goddard said yesterday that it had investigated the death of Parlane and was preparing its report.
Timeline
February: Matthew Hall is found by his flatmate, stabbed to death in his bed in Johnsonville, Wellington.
March: Lower Hutt man Tim Parlane is interviewed by police in connection with Hall's death and released soon after. Hours later he is hit by a train. An IPCA investigation is started.
April: The Dominion Post reveals Parlane confessed to a woman he was dating that he had murdered Hall.
July: Police appeal again for help in finding several knives that belonged to Parlane.
December: Facebook releases information on "people of interest" to the investigation.
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