Two gang associates accused of stabbing to death Eli Johnson for “narking” on a Mongrel Mob captain have been found guilty of murder.

Mongrel Mob Aotearoa member Quayde Richard Dean Hulbert, 30, and prospect Billy Tama Rielly, 22, were found guilty by a jury that returned unanimous verdicts this afternoon after just a few hours deliberating.

As the verdicts were read there were tears and hugs and a cry of “Yes” from the public gallery of the High Court at Hamilton where members of Johnson’s family were gathered.

There was no emotion from the dock where the two accused stood.

The pair have been on trial since February 12 after pleading not guilty to the June 12, 2022 murder.

Johnson, 27, was stabbed 13 times at his cabin on a family property in Whakamārama near Tauranga.

Four of the stab wounds were described by a forensic pathologist as serious enough to be fatal.

The injuries were made from two different knives, the tip of one breaking off in his skull during the attack.

Heavy rain made it unclear whether Johnson, who was not associated with the gang, was lured out of his cabin and stabbed or if the attack began inside.

His aunt testified she was inside the house when she heard him yelling “Aunty, Aunty, help”.

Johnson told her he had been “stabbed up” and to call an ambulance.

“I opened the back door and he was standing there and I seen [sic] everything they had done to him,” she told the jury at trial.

“He said, ‘Call an ambulance, I have been stabbed up and it’s bad’.”

She noticed the back of his head was “open”, his face had been slashed and he had wounds to his arm and stomach.

As she was on the phone with 111, she asked Johnson who did it.

“He’s saying the name, Quayde”, Kingi was heard saying on the call.

Police called back and Johnson could be heard saying, “Save my life... save my life, please”.

Johnson told his uncle, “They got me”.

The Crown case was that Johnson was killed for retracting a statement that took the blame for methamphetamine found by police during an October 2018 raid in Bay of Plenty.

Instead, he gave evidence against Tauranga Aotearoa captain Adrian Rewiri that they were the mobster’s drugs during a trial in 2021.

Johnson’s mother said her son was “forced to give evidence” and he feared retribution for it.

She told the jury Johnson testified against Rewiri “against his will” and afterward he would stay up late, fearful someone was coming for him.

Police at the scene of the homicide investigation into the death of Eli Johnson. Photo / Mead Norton

Crown Prosecutor Anna Pollett said Johnson believed he would be “dead tomorrow” after testifying against Rewiri.

“On the 12th of June, he paid the ultimate price for what we may all think was the right thing to do, to tell the truth,” she said during her closing submissions yesterday.

“And who got to carry out these dirty deeds? A patched member and a prospect who wanted his patch.”

Pollett said Johnson’s evidence against Rewiri was a “no-no” according to long-standing gang protocol and he was killed for it.

She said Hulbert, known as “Slicer Dogg”, and Rielly drove to Johnson’s Whakamārama property from Tauranga, stopping at the Caltex Welcome Bay twice.

The evidence showed Rielly entering the Caltex at 7.15pm the night Johnson was killed, wearing the same clothing, Nike shoes, and red cap, that he would later be seen in on CCTV at the Whakamarama shops.

They parked about 850 metres from the Old Highway Rd property where Johnson was and walked up Barletts Rd.

Pollett said Hulbert and Rielly knew where they were going, knew why they were going, “knew what they had to do and they did it”.

In recordings from phone calls between Hulbert and a prisoner the day after the killing he said he’d done a “favour for the brother”.

The jury heard that was a message to Rewiri the job had been done.

Hulbert rang another prisoner two weeks later saying he’s “just been doing dirty deeds”.

He said he was being investigated for a murder at “ole Whakamārama, Tauranga... 13 days ago”.

“Who’s that on, Dogg,” the prisoner asked.

“A nark,” Hulbert replied.

The pair have been remanded in custody until sentencing.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and been a journalist for 20.

Natalie Akoorie is a senior reporter based in Waikato and covering crime and justice nationally. Natalie first joined the Herald in 2011 and has been a journalist in New Zealand and overseas for 28 years, more recently covering health, social issues, local government, and the regions.