A Killer Beez member who was sentenced to home detention in December for a failed conspiracy to carry out the hit of a rival gang member can now be named.

Henderson resident Chavess Turner, 31, had previously been granted suppression regarding the conspiracy conviction to protect his fair trial rights for an unrelated family violence case.

He was initially scheduled to go to trial in Auckland District Court this week for assault with intent to injure, but prosecutors had earlier withdrawn the charge.

Turner admitted last September that he had once been prepared to serve as a rogue hitman for the gang. But he was granted mercy at his sentencing three months later after his lawyer described a rough split with the gang that resulted in him being marked for retribution.

He could have faced up to 10 years’ imprisonment for the conspiracy to murder charge.

Justice Graham Lang said in December he would not ordinarily allow home detention for someone with Turner’s criminal history but he had to give credence to the man’s recent steps at rehabilitation.

“I think this act of handing your patch in and leaving the gang is a huge step forward for you,” he explained. “So that’s why I’m willing to give you a break. It’s up to you what you do with it.”

‘He has to be smoked’

The Killer Beez and Tribesmen motorcycle gangs had been just days into a ceasefire after three weeks of perpetual gang warfare across Auckland when the murder plan was devised by co-defendant Haupapa Paul to kill a Tribesmen member who went by the name “Sweet”.

Despite the truce, Paul – who was in prison at the time – remained bitter about his house having been previously shot at, court documents state.

“He has to be smoked, eh,” Paul instructed Turner hours before the shooting was to take place.

“Still gonna whack it out,” Turner replied in barely coded speech during a follow-up call a short time later. “Whack it out the park, brother.”

But the conspiracy to kill, which lasted about 29 hours, failed on two fronts. Fellow gang members intervened, beating up Turner for threatening peace talks, but the jail calls were also monitored and recorded.

Paul was sentenced in May to six years and two months’ imprisonment.

Justice Lang noted during Turner’s sentencing hearing that the defendant had an “appalling upbringing” that likely resulted in his introduction to gangs at a young age.

He fell from a moving car at age 3, which might have resulted in a traumatic brain injury. The judge said he couldn’t be sure about the brain injury but it was clear he had cognitive issues.

He went into Oranga Tamariki care at a young age and spent a considerable amount of time in youth facilities.

Turner had previously been sentenced as an adult to one month’s imprisonment in 2014 for assault with intent to injure and four years and eight months’ imprisonment in 2016 for aggravated robbery, but his lawyer described the offending as “integrally linked to his gang membership”, which he had since severed.

He was also found to have breached bail earlier in 2024 when he cut off his electronically monitored ankle bracelet and disappeared for about three weeks.

The bail breach was an especiallybad look when applying for home detention, the judge said. However, he noted that a sentence involving continued imprisonment would be extra difficult because of Turner’s decision to leave the gang.

“It would not be in the best interests for you or the community to remain in segregation in prison,” he added.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.