A Taranaki man has been found guilty of murdering his son. David Roigard has been on trial at the High Court in New Plymouth for the past five weeks charged with the 2014 murder of his son Aaron Roigard.

Today the jury of nine women and two men delivered their verdict.

It took just over five hours for the jury to decide Roigard murdered his own son when he could no longer conceal he had stolen over 60-thousand dollars from, over an eight year period.

51-year-old David Roigard was also found guilty of eight charges of theft in a special relationship.

The month long trial focussed on the disappearance of 27-year-old Aaron Roigard on June 2 last year. A large part of the trial focussed on the 66-thousand dollars Aaron had transferred to his father between 2007 and 2014.

Bank records showed up to seven hundred dollars a fortnight was being transferred.

Witnesses during the trial, including his partner and the mother of his two children Julie Thoms, said Aaron told them the money was being invested through his father so he could save for a farm.

However, Crown Prosecutor Cherie Clarke said “Every single penny was being used by the defendant for his own selfish purposes.” David Roigard has never denied receiving the money, or even spending it.

The defence instead argued Aaron always knew he was spending it, and he was ok with it. In an interview with police shortly after Aaron disappeared, David Roigard said he always paid for Aaron’s car registrations and oil changes, and even a few out of town trips. However, he admitted the arrangement worked in his favour.

During the interview Roigard appeared shocked when told by police the total sum Aaron had given him totalled over $60,000.

The crown case while strongly focussing on the motive also focussed on other details such as internet searches and cell phone recordings.

Crown Prosecutor Cherie Clarke says one of the most important holes in David Roigard’s story was two phone calls made around the time Aaron disappeared. The two phone calls from Roigard’s phone, channelled through a cell phone tower unreachable from his Waiteika road home, where Aaron was last seen, meaning he was somewhere else at the time these calls were made.

The crown argued Roigard left the property at this time to bury Aaron’s body somewhere up Eltham road or Hastings road. She also told the jury the murder was pre-meditated, and spoke of internet searches David Roigard had made in the months leading up to Aaron’s disappearance, which included ‘Why can someone die from one blow to the head’ and chainsaw massacres.

Defence Lawyer Paul Keegan argued throughout the trial, that without a body ever being found it was impossible to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Aaron was dead. He said they have no way of knowing the injuries Aaron may have received, or the cause of death. Mr Keegan also told the jury not to rule out suicide, and referred to how witnesses had spoken of how Aaron had suicidal thoughts when he was a teenager.

He also argued that despite witnesses saying Aaron was happier than he had ever been the day he went missing, they could not discount David Roigard had finally informed Aaron that day, that there was no money and no farm. He says this would have crushed Aaron’s dream and could potentially have driven him into depression.

Justice Paul Heath convicted David Roigard for the charges of murder and theft, and will be sentenced in the High Court at New Plymouth on February 15.