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Stephen Thomas Hudson - Source: ONE News -
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The mother of murdered Palmerston North man Nicholas Pike says she hopes to finally let go of her son, nearly seven years after he went missing.
Stephen Thomas Hudson, 39, has been found guilty in the High Court at Wellington of the March 2002 murder of Pike, whose body has not been found.
Outside the court, Pike's mother, Evelyn, said the guilty verdict was a relief.
"I never knew what to expect. It will be a relief to know what did happen to Nicholas and who was responsible," she says.
"I hope to just let go of Nicholas."
The crown says Hudson killed Pike, a police informant, to protect himself.
The pair and witness, Cindy Vrins, left Auckland in March 2002, heading for Palmerston North.
But on the Desert Road, Hudson pulled over, told Cindy to get out, returning later without Pike.
After the verdicts were read, Pike says she had never held a funeral service or memorial for her son and that was unlikely to change.
"There's no body, no remains to say goodbye to," she says.
His body is not likely to be found, she says.
"I don't expect him (Hudson) to make a comment about that."
Pike's father, Gregory, says the family was happy with the police investigation and he would return to court for Hudson's sentencing.
Justice Ronald Young remanded Hudson in custody for sentencing early next year.
Pike, 22, has not been seen since he went into isolated country off the Desert Rd with Hudson, who was his boss in the drugs trade.
At the time, Hudson was on the run from the police for a violent attack and drug offences. He was arrested two months later.
He has more than eighty convictions and is already serving an 11 year sentence for two brutal assaults.
Members of Hudson's family testified he was in Masterton at the time of the murder.
His mother told ONE News she felt the family had been let down by the justice system, that the court had called them liars. But she also said she hoped the verdict would bring peace to the Pike family.
