Teen who stabbed adversary in back amid melee admits murder
A teenager who brought a knife to a fistfight, then used the weapon to stab an adversary in the back, has pleaded guilty to murder.
Tailasa Vakavale Otuha’Apai Pongia, now 20, appeared in the dock in the High Court at Auckland this morning as he admitted to the homicide charge and to having wounded a second victim.
Court documents released to the Herald today outline how Pongia had been drinking with four friends at a Bairds Rd home in Ōtara just before midnight on August 1 last year when three young men - including both stab victims - showed up on foot at the front fence.
The visitors, who had also been drinking in a home about a kilometre away, had an “unresolved dispute” with one of Pongia’s friends.
“A verbal exchange ensued, which escalated into shouting profanities and physical challenges,” the agreed summary of facts for the case states. “The confrontation spilled outwards onto Bairds Road, where more members of the defendant’s group joined in. A widespread physical altercation broke out, with members of both groups throwing punches and fighting.
“At an unknown point, Mr Pongia armed himself with a knife.”
Victim Greig Kelvin Temarama-Abela, also 19, was turned away from Pongia when the defendant stabbed him in the upper back.
The 8.5cm deep wound entered through Temarama-Abela’s ribs and fatally cut a small internal artery, resulting in a fatal haemorrhage, a pathologist would later determine. A half-centimetre incision was also found on his upper arm.
A friend of Temarama-Abela’s, also 19, punched the defendant after witnessing the stabbing.
Tailasa Pongia appears in the High Court at Auckland in October 2025, after he was charged with the murder of 19-year-old Greig Kelvin Temarama-Abela during an August 2025 street fight. Photo / Michael Craig
The defendant dropped to his knees as a result of the blow but then stood up and adopted a boxing stance as he faced off with the puncher. He then lunged forward and stabbed the man in the abdomen.
“The fighting continued intermittently, and both groups moved towards the intersection of Bairds Road and Wymondley Road,” court documents state. “However, the fighting eventually petered off, and the groups began to disperse.
“By this point, Mr Temarama-Abela sat down at the intersection of Wymondley Road and Laxon Avenue. He quickly lost consciousness.”
Police investigate after Greig Temarama-Abela died following a fight on Wymondley Rd in Otara last year. Photo / Hayden Woodward
He was pronounced dead a short time later, after emergency responders rushed him to Middlemore Hospital.
Pongia initially told police he had been asleep and knew nothing of the confrontation. He had been set to go to trial in October. Instead, he’ll now face sentencing in October.
He faces up to 14 years’ imprisonment for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Murder usually carries a mandatory life sentence with a minimum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years. However, in some cases judges have found such a sentence to be manifestly unjust when a defendant’s youth has been taken into consideration.
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.
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