'Gaping hole in our whānau': Victim's loved ones confront man who killed over shirt colour

At 12.51am, Andy Winitana texted his partner to say he would be home soon from a late-night visit to a pub with his best friend.

About that time, he also started talking to his killer, Jay Bronson Aranui, a man he had never met before but who came up to him on a Napier street while he was waiting for an Uber.

At 12.54am, on February 1 this year, three minutes after Winitana sent the text that said “be home soon”, Aranui felled him with a single punch.

Winitana, known variously as Anaru or Andy, was probably unconscious before he hit the ground.

He hit his head, causing a catastrophic and fatal brain injury. He died in hospital with his loved ones present after his life support was turned off two days later.

Aranui later told police he was under the influence of alcohol and felt like a fight when he dealt the fatal blow.

Today in the High Court at Napier, Winitana’s family and friends confronted his killer and told him about the “gaping hole” his death had left in their lives.

“How strong did you feel when you threw that coward’s punch?” Winitana’s partner, Toni Walker, asked Aranui.

“How does it feel to know you were the last person to have a conversation with Anaru, and then you cowardly finished it off with something so senseless that it killed him?” she said.

“He was so close to getting into the Uber and coming home. That’s all he wanted to do, and you stopped that from happening ...

“The reality that he is no longer here follows me everywhere. No more phone calls, no more texts, and no more future that includes him,” Walker said.

“There is no reprieve from it. The tears still flow and I am tired and overwhelmed every day, like there is a constant veil over me.

“There is no rest. ‘Life goes on,’ they say, but at what cost? Life goes on but without a father, a brother, an uncle, a friend, without a son and a soul mate.

“Life goes on and somehow we’re supposed to keep up.”

Aranui pleaded guilty to manslaughter two months after Winitana died.

Justice Paul Radich today sent him to prison for three years and seven months.

He also issued him with a first-strike warning, which will reduce Aranui’s options for parole for any further serious offending in the future.

Aranui’s counsel, Scott Jefferson, said his client wanted to stress his “complete acknowledgment” of the damage he had caused, through “distorted allegiance and intoxication”.

Violence was over colour of shirt

When he walked up to Winitana, 46, the Mongrel Mob-aligned Aranui asked if his victim’s light blue polo shirt meant he was associated with the Black Power gang, whose colour is blue.

The shirt had nothing to do with any gang.

Winitana was a businessman and father whom Justice Radich said “truly cared about others”.

He was the managing director of two companies, iScaffold Aotearoa and the construction firm Whakamana.

He was known for volunteering his time to help people in prison and had been known to give them jobs on release.

Earlier on the night he killed Winitana, Aranui had been denied entry to a waterfront bar and was hanging around the wharf area of Napier’s West Quay hospitality area.

He had been aggressive towards the bouncers and was showing Mongrel Mob signs and mouthing gang slogans.

He walked over to Winitana, who was sitting on a bollard waiting for the Uber.

They talked together for about three minutes and, according to CCTV footage, both appeared calm. At times, Winitana was laughing.

Crown prosecutor Clayton Walker said Winitana was a friendly man who, in his final conversation, was probably trying to persuade Aranui about the futility of violence over gang colours.

The CCTV footage showed that after about three minutes, Aranui drew his right arm back and threw the full-force punch to Winitana’s face.

Andy Winitana died following an assault on a night out in Ahuriri, Napier. Photo / Supplied

Killer’s police interview

Aranui’s account of what happened was recorded in a police interview conducted on the following afternoon.

He told police he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time and in “happy-as mode”.

“It was just like, I was around so much people that wanted to fight, it was like I ended up just wanting to fight,” Aranui told the police.

Aranui said his victim was not aggressive and “looked like a good fella”.

“It was just once I said, ‘F*** you, I’ll just knock you out and smash you’,” Aranui told police.

“I didn’t really mean that. I didn’t really think I was gonna do that when I said that.”

Aranui said Winitana “got in my face” but added: “Well, I don’t f***ing blame him. I was f***ing talking s***”.

Caring, compassionate, willing to help

Winitana’s sister, Paulani Winitana, said her brother was one of the most beautiful people and had the biggest heart of anyone she had met.

“He was kind, caring, compassionate and always willing to help others,” she said.

“He was the type of person who made people feel loved and valued.

“His loss has left a hole in our lives that can never be filled.”

Bibiana Walker, Winitana’s ex-wife and the mother of their four children together, said watching them grieve had been heartbreaking.

“I can love my children fiercely but I cannot be Andy. I cannot fill the space he held in their lives,” she said.

“His death has left a gaping hole in our whānau and our children now have to grow up without their dad.”

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.