Defence lawyers in a trial against four people accused of killing Anaru Moana say it can’t be proven that a gun brought to an allegedly planned attack on Moana was then used to kill him.

On the first day of the trial at the High Court in Christchurch yesterday, Crown prosecutor Shawn McManus said Moana was lured to Kelceys Bush near Waimate by an associate, where he was shot out of a tree as he tried to escape his attackers, before he was brutally murdered and dumped in a river.

Moana’s remains have never been found.

Anaru Moana was last seen in December 2023. Police believe he was murdered. Photo / Supplied

Hayden Douglas Burt, Aaron Boden and siblings Cody Boyes and Korina Boyes are jointly charged and all deny killing Moana. Burt and Boden also face additional charges of kidnapping and injuring with intent.

A fifth connected person, Joseph Cropley, was also charged with kidnapping and injuring with intent regarding an alleged attack on another associate, and has also pleaded not guilty.

Joseph Cropley was also charged with kidnapping and injuring with intent. Photo / George Heard

After Moana’s mother died on December 20, 2021, Korina Boyes picked Moana up and drove him to Kelceys Bush, near Waimate, on the pretence of walking Boyes’ dog together, the court has heard.

There, Burt and Boden were lying in wait, the Crown alleges.

They say when Korina Boyes drove Moana to the bush, Burt and Boden were waiting to hand out his punishment, as months earlier, Moana and an associate had allegedly stolen meth and cash totalling around $60,000 from a car in Oamaru belonging to Burt.

The court heard how Moana’s associate was left “battered” two months earlier after a group of men, including Boden and Cropley, attacked him over the theft, dragging him into a car before dropping him in a gravel pit outside of Oamaru.

The prosecution then shifted to Moana, who had evaded Burt and Boden for more than two months.

Today, one of the men’s lawyers said he accepted he was involved in an unlawful act that led to Moana’s death, and that Moana died in Kelceys Bush, but that there was no murderous intention to kill Moana.

Aaron Boden is on trial accused of murder. Photo / George Heard

Another lawyer told the jury that “not every death is a murder” and the Crown would have to prove there was an intention to kill Moana by assaulting him, an intention which all defendants deny.

It was agreed that a firearm was brought into the bush, but lawyers said that the Crown couldn’t prove that a gun was used to kill Moana.

Hayden Burt denies murdering Anaru Moana. Photo / George Heard

Korina Boyes’ lawyer said she denies knowing about any plan to kill Moana when she drove him into the bush and that when she picked up her brother Cody and his gun, she did not know her was carrying a weapon.

Korina Boyes appears in the High Court at Christchurch. Photo / George Heard

The Crown said all four defendants acted with murderous intent and that they are guilty of the murder of Moana.

Cody Boyes denies murder and is standing trial with three others at the High Court at Christchurch. Photo / George Heard

Moana was reported missing by his family on December 23 2021, and police began investigating.

It later emerged that before Moana was reported missing, a silver Subaru was found burned out on State Highway 1 near the Waihao area.

Police released these photos of Anaru Moana's car after he went missing. Photo / NZ Police

Police carried out extensive searches in waterways around that location and at other sites in Waitaki and Waimate connected to the car and other evidence.

On November 8, 2022, the National Dive Squad began searching waterways near where the burned-out car had been found and a week later Burt and Boden were formally charged.

The Crown alleges Anaru Moana was beaten to death and his body dumped in a river. Photo / Supplied

Cody Boyes was charged in July 2024 and his older sister in March 2025.

All four have pleaded not guilty to murder with their trial before a jury and Justice Christine Gordon beginning yesterday.

The trial is scheduled to take up to eight weeks.