On 16 May 2023, a fire broke out at the 92-bed Loafers Lodge in Newtown, Wellington, New Zealand. Five people were killed, and twenty others injured.[1] On 18 May 2023, a man, whose identity is still suppressed, was arrested.[2] He was charged with arson and murder.
The four-storey building was constructed in 1971 as an office and warehouse building called Mertex House. Since 2006, the building has been occupied by Loafers Lodge.[3]
The building previously served as a place of emergency residential housing contracted by the New Zealand Government.[4] A deportee advocate said the hostel was used by Prison Aid and Rehabilitation, and by the government to house deportees returned from Australia.[5]
The building's Warrant of Fitness (BWoF) was renewed in March 2023. BWoF records show the building had a "type 3" fire alarm system (automatic system with heat detectors and manual call points) supplemented by smoke detectors.[6]Fire sprinklers were not installed in the building,[7] nor were they required to be installed by the building code. A fire engineer was quoted as saying the rules were "too slack and need tightening".[8][9]
Incident
A fire broke out on the top floor of the 92-room lodge around 12:25am (NZST) on 16 May 2023.[7] Earlier in the night, a couch fire occurred about two hours before the later fire; it was not reported to authorities.[10] It was initially unclear how many people were in the hostel when the fire occurred,[11] however, 52 people were evacuated from the building and at least five were rescued from the roof by Fire and Emergency.[12] Five people died, 20 were injured, and many of the 99 people known to be living at the hostel were made homeless.[13]
A long-term resident of the hostel said that he had noticed the fire while heading back to his room from the bathroom, and that the smoke, crowds and darkness were disorienting before he was able to escape via a stairwell. Other residents said that, due to multiple false fire alarms throughout the past months, there were delays in responding and evacuating.[5]
Victims
The five deceased victims were identified as: Kenneth Barnard, 67;[14] Liam James Hockings, 50;[14] Peter Glenn O'Sullivan, 64;[15] Melvin Joseph Parun, 68;[15] and Mike Eric Wahrlich (known as Mike the Juggler), 67.[16] It was reported that Parun was the brother of tennis player Onny Parun.[15]
Investigation and legal proceedings
On 17 May 2023, police announced they were treating the fire as arson and had launched a homicide inquiry.[17] At the time, police would not say whether accelerants were used on the fire or why they believe it was deliberately lit.[18]
Murder charges and trial
On 18 May 2023, a 48-year-old man was arrested and charged with two counts of arson. He was arraigned in the Wellington District Court on 19 May 2023, where he entered no plea and was remanded in custody until 19 June 2023. The man's name was suppressed until his next appearance.[2][19][20] On 1 June, he was charged with five counts of murder.[21]
On 23 June, Judge Christine Grice of the Wellington High Court granted the murder suspect name suppression until mid-August 2023. The suspect's trial was scheduled to take place in August 2024.[22][23]
On 21 March 2024, the suspect's lawyer Louise Sziranyi confirmed that the defendant would plead not guilty to the murder charges on the grounds of insanity.[24]
First week
On 25 August 2025 the 50-year old defendant, who received interim name suppression, faced trial at the Wellington High Court on five charges of murder and two charges of arson. Judge Peter Churchman presided over the trial, which is expected to hear evidence from a 100 witnesses over a period of five weeks. Crown prosecutor Stephanie Bishop told the court that CCTV footage proved that the defendant started two fires, which led to the building's destruction and the death of the five victims. Bishop suggested that the defendant lit the fires since he did not want to live at Loafer Lodge. She told the jury that the law could consider a killing a murder even if the defendant did not intend to kill someone.[25][26] The defendant's lawyer Louise Sziranyi said the defendant would be mounting an insanity defence during the trial. On the first day, the court heard evidence from Fire and Emergency senior station officer Clark Townsley, who led the first responders to the fire. He told the court that firefighters were forced to withdraw due to a "flashover" sweeping through the building. Once firefighters had dampened the fire, they discovered five or six bodies within the gutted building.[25]
On 26 August, other firefighters including Brady Cutting, Joshua Leceve, Martin Wilby and Mark Powell testified about their experiences on the night.[27][28]
Manslaughter charges
Following a two-year investigation, Police charged three individuals with manslaughter in relation to the management and operation of Loafers Lodge in early June 2025. The accused are two men aged 75 and 58, and a woman aged 70. Police have alleged they were responsible for the building's fire safety.[29] On 9 June, a 72 year old man was charged with manslaughter in the Wellington District Court. [30] On 27 June, one of the female defendants was identified as Marie Louise Murphy, who was involved with the management and operation of the building. She and her three co-defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter at the Wellington High Court.[31]
Reactions
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called the fire an absolute tragedy.[32] He said that the government will investigate whether regulations for high density accommodation are fit for purpose.[33][34]
By 7 June, the Wellington City Mission had raised NZ$360,000 for residents who had lost possessions during the fire. However, only NZ$92,000 of this amount had been given out to displaced residents who received an initial payment of NZ$500, followed by a further payment of NZ$1,000.[36]
On 15 June, hundreds of people attended a remembrance ceremony at Wellington's Cathedral of St Paul for the victims.[37]
On 23 June, lawyers representing displaced residents filed an interim injunction to stop the owners from demolishing the structure in order to retrieve their belongings. Residents had previously been told that the building would be demolished and their possessions would be dumped due to the risk of toxic contamination. Under the injunction, residents will be allowed to conduct their own inspection to determine if their belongings could be retrieved. The owner would also have to take action to prevent further damage to the residents' belongings and would have to provide daily updates.[38]
By late March 2024, Community Law senior lawyer Oscar Upperton confirmed that recovery professionals had managed to return several salvageable possessions including family photos and memorabilia to displaced tenants. Due to water, fire damage and asbestos contamination, some items were irrecoverable. Upperton also confirmed that the tenants and landlord were working on minor issues related to the recovery process that was expected to be settled soon.[39]
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