Marie Jamieson was last seen alive at 9.17pm on 10 February 2001 as she walked past the Gull service station on New North Road. Her body was found behind factory buildings in Ranui nine days later and a homicide investigation dubbed "Op Co-Op" was launched. She was aged 23 years at the time of her death.
At about 7.30pm last night Thursday 26 June 2008, Detectives working on the Marie Jamieson homicide investigation arrested a 51 year old male sickness beneficiary in Kaitaia.
The man has been charged with the rape & murder of Marie Jamieson. The accused was arrested in Kaitaia but has been living in Auckland. He will appear in the Kaitaia District court today.
Detective Inspector Steve Wood said the arrest is very satisfying and he thanks the family & friends of Marie along with the New Zealand public for their support and patience over the past seven years.
"I acknowledge the original enquiry team for their thorough investigation and attention to detail."
Mr Wood paid tribute to the professionalism of his dedicated investigation team and to the many other agencies and individuals that assisted Police over the past seven years.
"Although this is a major milestone in the investigation we recognise it is only part of a process that will now progress to the court - there is still a great deal of work to be done," he said.
Detective Inspector Wood said he would not rule out the possibility of further arrests.
Marie's family made a brief statement today saying: 'The family are pleased for Marie's sake that someone has been arrested for her murder. It has been an agonising and heartbreaking seven years for our family and it is not over yet. We are indebted to the police for the tremendous amount of effort they have put in to finding Marie's killer. We do not wish to comment further till after the trial'