On the eve of the one-year anniversary since fruit-picker Simon Bevers was found dead in his tent, police are announcing a $100,000 reward for information leading to the convictions of those responsible. Sam Sherwood reports.

It was about 8pm when Simon Allan Bevers began to make his way to his tent at the Eden’s Road Fruit orchard in Hope, near Nelson.

It was March 7, 2022, and the 56-year-old seasonal worker had only been working at the orchard for two weeks.

On his way to his tent, he had a brief conversation with a Czechoslovakian couple who had just started working at the orchard. Bevers appeared to be fine and continued on his way to his two tents, one for his belongings, and one he slept in.

Simon Bevers was found dead at Eden's Road Fruit orchard in Hope on March 9, 2022. Photo / Hayden Rose

While other workers were drinking on-site, which is against rules at the orchard, there was no indication Bevers had.

“It was a fairly stock standard Monday night,” Tasman police district crime services manager Detective Inspector Mark Chenery told the Herald.

“He was an upstanding member of the community and had lived overseas for a number of years, come back and was picking fruit, it suited his lifestyle and he could move about.”

Bevers did not show up for work the following morning, but it was not particularly unusual for someone to have a day off to recoup given they got paid for what they picked.

It was not until the following day that one of the workers became concerned and went to check on him.

“He went to look in the tent, saw that there was a little blood there, and then went and got one of the owners of the orchard who came and checked on him and confirmed he was dead,” Chenery says.

Police were called and were able to rule suicide out “quite early on”, he says.

“He had an injury that created a lot of blood and his death was quite quick.”

Chenery says police are keeping “an open mind” on what weapon was used, with no weapon recovered to date.

Police carried “extensive forensic testing” throughout the property, including Bevers’ tent and the other accommodation areas.

Chenery revealed police found Bevers’ blood on a coat belonging to a fellow orchard worker who was part of the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.

The orchard worker is one of “several” workers who are being treated as persons of interest, Chenery said.

“He has been asked about the blood, and he cannot explain it,” he said.

Chenery said the investigation to date had not found a motive for the killing, but added they had no lines of inquiry to suggest someone had come off the street and “randomly attacked him”.

Today, police are announcing a $100,000 reward for “material information or evidence”, which leads to the identity and conviction of any person, or persons, responsible for Bevers’ death.

 “We’ve gone through a number of investigative techniques and working through the process and we’ve got to the stage where we believe the offer of a reward is another valuable tactical move to solving this,” Chenery said.

“We believe there are persons that are aware of what occurred and for whatever reason are reluctant to come forward.”

Bevers’ family were “absolutely heartbroken”, Chenery said.

“He was an integral part of their family … he was a hard-working Kiwi who lived a simple life travelling around New Zealand for his work.”

Chenery said police were “confident” the case was solvable and had a message for those who knew about what happened to Bevers.

“If somebody does know something that is relevant to the inquiry and they’re holding it for whatever reason, or for mixed loyalties, then they only need to see the raw grief going through Simon’s family and see what it’s doing to them and maybe have a rethink.”

The Commissioner of Police will determine the amount of the reward and will apportion it if there is more than one claimant.

Immunity against prosecution will be considered for any accomplice - not being a principal offender - who gives such information or evidence.

The offer will remain in force until May 31, 2023. Information can be provided to the investigation team through the police 105 reporting line, quoting the file number 220309/6371, or directly by calling (03) 545-9853.