This article was first published by Stuff.
Police investigating the alleged murder of Baby Ru found “critical evidence” in a secluded rural area north of Wellington, not far from where they’d conducted a previous search.
And the head of the investigation, dubbed Operation Huia, says the discovery of the items “has significantly advanced” their homicide investigation.
Ruthless-Empire Souljah Reign Rhind Shephard Wall, known as Baby Ru, suffered a fatal skull fracture at a property in Poole St, Taitā on the morning of October 22, 2023.
The toddler was rushed to Hutt Hospital, but died soon after arrival, three days short of his second birthday.
Police say Baby Ru’s injuries were non-accidental. Three people who were at the Taitā home at the time, the boy’s mother, Storm Wall, and a couple, Rosie Morunga and Dylan Ross, are considered “persons of interest” to the homicide investigation.
On the first anniversary of the child’s death, police said the investigation, dubbed Operation Huia, had been hampered by attempts to “cover-up” what had happened.
At the time they said at least one of the persons of interest had “deliberately altered the crime scene” by removing items, including a hard drive and a duvet cover, which had not been recovered.
Several days later, on October 25, the officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Inspector Nick Pritchard, announced a search of a semi-rural area north of Wellington had revealed “critical evidence” in the case.
The area was on Moonshine Rd, off State Highway 58, about 20 minutes by car from the Taitā home where Ru lived.
Speaking to Stuff on Friday, Pritchard said the items of interest recovered had “significantly advanced the investigation”.
He wouldn’t say what they were, but confirmed they were found near a shed known as the Red Barn.
Police had searched the shed early in their investigation without success, he said.
“But in the last couple of weeks from new information, we carried out a more targeted search of a more secluded rural area in Moonshine Rd where items of interest were found.”
Pritchard said the items were being forensically examined.
He confirmed the information that led to their discovery was “not from people coming forward”.
On October 25, Pritchard said he hoped the development would jog people’s memory, especially, those who lived on Moonshine Rd.
Police appealed for sightings of the vehicle that shuttled items from the crime scene.
“Our message to them is please contact us if you saw something out of place on 22 October last year.”
That car was a grey-green 1994 Nissan Sentra, registration TE6972.
On the anniversary of Baby Ru’s death, Pritchard told Stuff he remained confident the case would be solved.
He said the investigation had established the child was fatally injured on the morning of his death, but it remained unclear how.
“It could be a number of things such as an object or instrument or force on a floor or something of that nature.”
Pritchard said Wall, Morunga and Ross had all been interviewed by police, but none of them had been “fully forthcoming”.
- Stuff