The Events at Jacksons Bay

Rex Haig was the Skipper and owner of a large 180 ft ocean going trawler called the Antares. Onboard the vessel were three crew members, David Hogan, Tony Sewell & Mark Roderique.

In June 1994, the Antares had just returned from a fishing voyage and had anchored at the wharf in Jacksons Bay, South Westland, New Zealand. This would be the final day that anyone would see Mark Roderique.

Rex Haig & his crew left the vessel to travel by road to Haast, to buy food & ships provisions and to enjoy some cold beers. They arrived at Jackson dairy at 9:30am and were later all in the pub from 3pm till 5pm. After their drinking session the Skipper and the crew returned to the Antares at Jacksons Bay.

Onboard the vessel, an argument broke out between crew members David Hogan and Mark Roderique, with insults and punches being thrown. The fight subsequently ended up on the back deck of the Antares and then on the wharf itself where it started to develop dangerously with Mark Roderique wielding a knife.

The Skipper Rex Haig, who was attending vessel duties, was informed of the developments and rushed out of the vessel and onto the wharf to prevent a dangerous confrontation developing.

The confrontation moved to the road. At or around 6pm, Rex Haig stopped the fight by disarming Mark Roderiques, hitting him with an object. The knife was then taken off Roderiques and he was informed by Haig that he was fired and to get his gear off the Antares and go.

Rex Haig left Roderique and went to Talley's Depot and was in conversation with a number of people including a crewman of fisherman Peter Squires; and Tony Sewell. They were also having some beer at the packing shed. A short time later, Rex Haig was informed that Roderiques had walked down the wharf and boarded the Antares.

David Hogan was requested to go down the wharf and keep an eye on Roderiques while he packed his bags. Hogan was not seen by witneses on the wharf and his movements for two hours are unaccounted for. He denied going onto the Antares or speaking to Roderiques. Rex Haig and Tony Sewell remained at Talley's, from 6:15 - 6:30 till 8:30 - 8:45.

On the other side of the wharf, directly opposite the Antares was another fishing boat "Koromiko" skippered by Peter Squires. Mr Squires would later tell police that he saw Roderique reboarding and had spoke to him briefly.

Squires maintains he heard voices on the Antares, but did not know who they belonged to. He could hear someone saying "I'm sorry I wouln't have...".

What ever Squires heard, a short time later, he called up the fish packing shed by radio, and instructed his deck hand to return to his vessel as they were proceeding to an outer anchorage immediately. Later the Squires crewman who was at Talley's Depot, tells Police that Rex Haig was still there with Tony Sewell at the time voices were heard on board the Antares.

The deck hand left Rex Haig at the packing shed and walked back to his boat. The boat pulled away from the wharf and proceeded to the anchorage. In evidence both men said while underway - they both kept looking back at the Antares to see if anything was happening. There was a loaded rifle in their bridge.

Rex Haig returned from Talleys at or around 8:30, 8:45 and started preparations for the Antares to go to sea. The Antares would leave the wharf at around 9pm and manoeuvre to port near Jacksons head about 9:30pm.

Hogan's claim was that the Antares left Jacksons Bay about 15 mins after the knife fight. However, the boat could have not left at this time because its engine took at least 20 mins to start and twice as long if the diesel generator was not already running. Due to the noise the generator makes and many witnesses remembering a quiet, still evening, it is very unlikely Hogans evidence is correct. Another crown witness would confirm this saying that the Antares did not leave Jackson Bay until at least 90 minutes after the knife fight.

More to come...

comment on this page

Terms & Conditions

By viewing the pages of this website, you acknowledge that you have read and accepted these disclaimers. The information published on this site is based on media and other publically available information and is intended only as an introduction to the Rex Haig case. While every endeavour has been made to supply accurate information, errors and omissions may occur. The operators/owners of Rexhaig.com and/or Rex Haig do not accept any liability for any loss or damage which may directly or indirectly result from any opinion, information, representation or omission, whether negligent or otherwise, contained on this site. Any requests for removal of allegedly defamatory material or notifications of error will be considered upon request. Changes or updates to the content of this site may occur without notice. The owners/operators of rexhaig.com acknowledge and accept the rights of third party providers and subsequently make all efforts to provide full references to newspaper articles and other published material. Where an article has been published without the express permission of a third party, that third party may request the article be removed from rexhaig.com. The owners/operators of Rexhaig.com owns all copyright and all other intellectual property rights in this site. Everything on this site is copyrighted unless otherwise noted. Rexhaig.com welcomes the use of this site for your non-commercial use only provided that you retain all copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices contained in the content. We advise that you may not copy or display for redistribution to third parties or for commercial purposes any portion of this site without rexhaig.com's express permission. Rexhaig.com operators/owners and/or Rex Haig are not responsible for, and makes no representations, warranties or conditions concerning, the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. Rex Haig.com provides links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement, investigation or verification of the linked site. This website is governed by, and is to be interpreted in accordance with, the laws of New Zealand.