Twenty years ago, a fire ripped through a house bus in a small rural town, killing the sole occupant, Michael Paul Slade.

An investigation by police and fire safety officers found the blaze probably started with a smouldering cigarette.

However, Frederick Matene King, of Manaia, South Taranaki, claims he went to the Hāwera police station not long after and admitted to starting the fire, and nothing came of it.

Police say there is no record of that happening.

Two decades later, King, 39, has confessed again and today he appeared in the High Court at New Plymouth charged with Slade’s manslaughter.

Slade, a 27-year-old labourer who was living in the house bus at the time, died in the 2005 fire in Manaia.

At the hearing, before Justice David Boldt, King pleaded guilty to causing his death.

Justice Boldt acknowledged Slade’s family in court, telling them he hoped the recent developments helped them understand what happened that night, and provided them with closure.

He told King “It was a big thing” coming forward to confess and to acknowledge responsibility with his guilty plea.

“I commend you for doing that.”

Frederick King appeared in the High Court at New Plymouth on Friday. Photo / Tara Shaskey

According to the Crown summary of facts, King and Slade were not known to each other before the incident.

On August 19, 2005, King was drinking at his friend’s house party in Manaia. The party was at the front of the address, visible to the road.

About 9pm, Slade drove down the street and performed burnouts on the grass in front of the property.

This agitated King, who approached Slade’s car and punched him several times through the open driver’s window.

Slade drove off and King returned to the party.

Later in the evening, King went to a local pub and was asked by an associate if he wanted to “get that fulla back”, referring to Slade.

The associate knew where Slade lived.

King and three friends walked to Slade’s property where King went inside the house bus to assault him.

But when he saw Slade was asleep, King changed his mind and turned to leave.

As he walked out, he used his lighter to ignite a piece of paper covering one of the windows in the bus.

King saw the paper was alight before returning to the pub with his friends to continue drinking.

Then in January last year, police were contacted by a social service as a result of King telling his social worker that he was responsible for the fire.

King was interviewed by police and confessed.

He told police he did not know why he lit the paper, suggesting he was “just drunk” and wanted to scare him or hurt him in some way.

Both the victim and defendant lived in Manaia, South Taranaki.

In court, Justice Boldt recorded King’s plea and told him to return for sentencing on May 21.

Restorative justice was ordered as Slade’s family and King had expressed interest in attending.

Detective Sergeant Nicky Spicer said the police investigation into the house bus fire was reopened after police were made aware of King’s recent admission.

“Mr King was spoken to as part of this, resulting in his arrest,” Spicer, the officer in charge of the case, told NZME.

“Although Mr King has acknowledged that he tried to speak with police about this in the years following the arson, police have been unable to find a record of this.”

Spicer said it had been a very emotional time for Slade’s family who were still grieving the loss of their son and brother.

According to Taranaki Daily News reports at the time, the fire broke out about 1am and Slade’s employer, who was living in a house bus nearby, woke to the blaze.

He raised the alarm and firefighters and police arrived at the scene to find the inside of the bus burnt out.

The occupant’s remains were found and a post-mortem confirmed it to be Slade.

Belinda Dewar, who at the time was a Detective Sergeant and is now the Taranaki area commander, told the Taranaki Daily News that an investigation had found it was not suspicious.

She said the fire was likely started by a cigarette left burning on the kitchen bench, or possibly a nearby mechanic’s lamp.

”We think it was more likely caused by smoking materials. This is supported by the post-mortem results which found he died of carbon monoxide poisoning.”

Another police officer told the Taranaki Daily News the fire had dealt a blow to the township.

”It’s a dark day in a small town when something like this happens,” he said.

Throughout the years, Slade’s loved ones have marked the anniversary of his death with memorial notices.

“So loved, so missed, and so very dear,” one read.

“Time passes but you are never forgotten,” another said.

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.