September 8, 2025 • 15 mins
In the early hours of Monday morning, a man police were hunting for nearly four years was shot and killed in a stand-off on a rural Waikato road.
That man was Tom Phillips, who in December 2021 vanished into the Marokopa bush with his three children, Jayda, Maverick, and Ember.
There have been numerous sightings over the years of the fugitive father - the last was in August when he and another person believed to be one of his children, were seen on CCTV breaking into a Piopio superette.
The Front Page travelled to the King Country and spoke to Waitomo District Mayor John Robertson about how the community has fared and what we can learn from the ordeal.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Chelsea Daniels
Editor/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Jane Yee
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Kiota. I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is a special on
location episode of The Front Page, a daily podcast presented
by The New Zealand Herald.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We're in the small.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Waikato town of pure Puel, sitting on a park bench
across the road from PGG Rightson. Now, other than the
police tape across the entrance, you wouldn't know that. It's
one of the scenes police are focusing on in their
investigation into Tom Phillips, who, at about two point thirty
am on Monday, police believe it tried to break into
(00:40):
this store. Now, what happened on this fateful morning and
how do.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
We get here?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Tom and his three kids, Jada, Maverick and Ember first
went missing in September twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Which sparked a major search near Mutta Kopper.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
But three weeks later they rocked up at the fair
EM's farm and he was charged with wasting police resources.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
He didn't show up.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
To court for those charges, why because he had taken
the kids again.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
This was in December twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
In September twenty twenty three, we learned a warrant was
out for his arrest, police alleging he robbed a bank
in Tekawiti.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
In May twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Three, he was charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and
unlawfully possessing a firearm over the armed heist of A
and Z Tekowiti on May sixteen. Two people both armed entered,
demanded cash and fled on a farm style motorbike. In August,
there was a spate of sightings around Waikato. Phillips was
(01:43):
seen in two different Bunnings warehouse stores disguising himself with
glasses and a surgical mask. He used cash to buy
items which suggested he may have set up a campsite,
including headlamps, batteries, seedlings, buckets and gum boots. In September
twenty twenty three, police revealed they'd received fourteen reports of
sightings of Phillips, None turned out to be positive. November
(02:07):
that year, Phillips and one of his children allegedly stole
a quad bike from a rural wye at though property
and then broke into a shop. Security footage of the
pair shows them smashing the front glass and fleeing north
after the alarm was set off at about two am,
Tom and the kids were spotted by peg hunters in
the Madacoppa area at the beginning of October, the first
(02:27):
time they've been seen all together since they went missing
in December twenty twenty one. They were wearing camo gear
hiking through farmland carrying backpacks. Police and air support, including
the Air Force helicopter, were sent to the area but
found nothing.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
The kid's mother, though, cat she was happy to have
proof they were all alive.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So that brings us up to last month. August twenty
twenty five, Phillips and one of his children were caught
on CCTV breaking into a Pure Pure cuparette, which he
also targeted in November twenty twenty three. He used a
power tool suspected to be an angle grinder to break
into the barred back door and stole groceries before speeding
(03:10):
off on a quad bike. That takes us up until now.
Police were called by a member of the public who
thought they were witnessing a burglary about two thirty am
Monday at a rural farm supply store. PGG writes in
in Pure pul Behind us, two people in farm clothing
and wearing headlamps left the scene on a quad bike
(03:32):
at about three twenty am.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Police laid road.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Spikes and the bike stops at around the intersection of
Waipoona and to Our Roads, which leads to Mattacoppa.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
The first attending officer has.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Come across the bike and was confronted by gunfire at
close range. It's understood he was shot in the head
with a high powered rifle. He fell to the ground,
took cover and he was later airlifted to Waikato Hospital.
He received critical injuries and will require multiple surgeries. Soon after,
a second patrol unit.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Arrived and shopped Phillips. He died at the scene.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Multiple firearms were found on and around the quad bike.
A number of items stolen from the store were also found.
The latest update as of about ten to six on
Monday evening was that the two remaining children were found
by police. They were found at about four point thirty
pm in Bush, roughly two kilometers from the location where
(04:31):
their father, Tom Phillips died. Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rodgers
said to know the children are safe and now receiving
care after nearly four years is an absolute relief. She said,
While they are safe, this is the start of a
long journey of recovery and their welfare remains a top priority.
(04:52):
For that reason, they will not go into details about
where they are now and their mental state. We spoke
to way Tomo District Mayor John robertson mid afternoon in
Takawiti before the latest development. So John, tell me a
little bit about the area that we're looking at here.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So the area is really rugged, sort of classic King
Country hills, steep hills. This is out Maracoppa wise, out
by the coast, you know, rugged West Coast New Zealand,
vast areas of native forest. There's a lot of dock
(05:39):
conservation land out there. So I think of the Waitomo
district there's something like twenty percent is in dock estate.
So and sparsely populated, you know, so metal roads from
council roads going down and you know, often just a
few farmers are just serving a few farms in the area,
(06:01):
and so.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
The population is one of the smallest council areas. But
you mentioned before one of the district is actually one
of the largest in the country.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
It's large for the North Island. It's three and a
half thousand square kilometers, which is about the size of
Hamilton City. Waipa District Council and Otronga Council, So it
is the Waitomo as part of the we're in the
center of the king country is a big, vast area.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Years and do you know Tom and Tom's family?
Speaker 3 (06:35):
No, I don't. I've not known Tom. The family is
a family that's been in that area for a long time,
good farming people. And while I made contact early on
with them, they've wanted their privacy respected too, So the
local community is their community, and the mayor has kept
(06:58):
away through that time.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
In terms of how long this ordeal has taken, nearly
four years, or exactly four years if you count the
first time him and the kids went missing. It's an
incredible time and an incredible amount of time for the
whole country and even internationally people looking at the district
and that's probably something that you're not used to out here.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
What's it been like.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Look, the focus has come on periodically. So when obviously
when when Tom disappeared the second time, there was a
and you know, and the first time I guess there
was a very big presence of police for a week
or so. Since then, there's been these alleged sightings and
(07:49):
alleged robberies, and so you know, every six months or so,
and so the police times have come in in a
number of but not stayed for long. So it had
you know that the attention has been on Tom, but
(08:10):
it's been every six months or so when there's an
alleged sighting.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
More has it been the talk of the town.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Over the almost four years. It's not something that we
wake up to every day and think, oh, where's Tom.
It is something that we periodically think about, the children especially,
And then when there's been an incident or a sighting
or an alleged robbery, the community has chatted a bit
(08:38):
and wondered was that Tom or not? And the police
have had clearly had their evidence and have known more
than the community has.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
In terms of how this has ended, obviously one of
the more tragic circumstances that it could have ended.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It could have ended in a multitude of ways.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
How do you think do you think that police or
everyone has gone about this the right way? Do you
have any ideas on how to perhaps should should we
have done better?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Yes we we we should have done better, but that's
not a blame on the police. I you know about
a year ago, you know, I guess I started chatting
to people about whether there's a way to encourage Tom
(09:33):
to come out with a negotiated type agreement because we
all know that there's a custody issue behind this as well,
and that that that those situations are really complex to
get through. But yeah, I did think a year ago,
(09:56):
in fact, I called the Commissioner for Children in Wellington
and said, I wonder whether there is a way where
someone from the outside with manna could come in and
quietly see if an agreement, if there was a way
(10:18):
through it. And it's really difficult, I acknowledge that. So
the police, well, obviously the police have charges against Tom,
but those sorts of things could be negotiated by the police,
and I think a few months ago the police said
that they would be prepared to negotiate the custody of
the children sits with the family court. And there's no
(10:41):
easy way to have an agreement with a family court,
and no easy way to get agreement anyway, but to
get an agreement with the family court in a situation
like this. But I think we do need to reflect
on this and see whether there is and it may
(11:06):
require legislation to I mean, some act around this, whether
it's even the powers of the Commissioner for the Children,
whether there's a way of having someone pull together the
various parties, and some of them are government departments and
sit around a table and say, well, actually the solution
(11:28):
could possibly be negotiated through quietly through contacts. I don't know,
hard I know, but much better than the outcome that
we've come to today.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Well, the outcome is probably one of the worst. And
I suppose knowing that he was armed through the elector
the robberies over the years as well, had police on guard,
so to speak, in terms of the solution that we've
come at day, what do you think.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
The way forward is?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Look, the police will do an investigation. Now I'm looking
forward to seeing the completion of that and then to
see whether there can be And it comes back to
what I've just been saying, whether we need, you know,
be good to see the Commissioner for Children be able
(12:25):
to make a submission into this process too. So you know,
the outcome we've got to is the outcome we've got,
and it's really tragic, and so you know, I guess, yeah,
(12:46):
the learnings from this perhaps we can bring forward and see, Yeah,
if there's a better way. We knew, you know that
if this, if Tom was confronted. I'm sure the police
knew that if he was confronted, there could be an issue.
(13:08):
In this instance, I think rightly the police did what
they did and managed to find him, but I don't
think anyone would have thought it would have ended in
such a violent way. So it's very sad.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
And the police officer who was first on this saying
he was local, he's a.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Local cop from pu pu Ari area, yes, and long term, long.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Serving, And that must be terrible for the community. It
seems so tight knit.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah, yeah, very sad.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Yeah, are you okay? Yep?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
But I mean this is the you know, when you
think of the impact on the community. We know the
people in this, you know, we know the family of
Mara copa, Tom's family. We know the cop and the family,
and so yeah, have you spoken to his family?
Speaker 1 (14:15):
No?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I haven't. I think I just need to give them time.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
And if you had a word to the community about
how to feel, or had any words of advice, what
would they be.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Look, we the community will do this. I don't need
to advise them. They will support those most closely impacted.
So it's a great, great community. The Maricopa community out there,
farming community will come around and pupurea as well.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Oh, thank you so much for talking to us today.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
John, all right, now you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at enzdherld dot co dot nz.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
The Front Page is produced.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
By Jane Ye and Richard Martin, who is also our editor.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I'm Chelsea Daniels.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you
get your podcasts, and tune in tomorrow for another look
behind the headlines.
Kiota. I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is a special on
location episode of The Front Page, a daily podcast presented
by The New Zealand Herald.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We're in the small.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Waikato town of pure Puel, sitting on a park bench
across the road from PGG Rightson. Now, other than the
police tape across the entrance, you wouldn't know that. It's
one of the scenes police are focusing on in their
investigation into Tom Phillips, who, at about two point thirty
am on Monday, police believe it tried to break into
(00:40):
this store. Now, what happened on this fateful morning and
how do.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
We get here?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Tom and his three kids, Jada, Maverick and Ember first
went missing in September twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Which sparked a major search near Mutta Kopper.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
But three weeks later they rocked up at the fair
EM's farm and he was charged with wasting police resources.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
He didn't show up.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
To court for those charges, why because he had taken
the kids again.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
This was in December twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
In September twenty twenty three, we learned a warrant was
out for his arrest, police alleging he robbed a bank
in Tekawiti.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
In May twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Three, he was charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and
unlawfully possessing a firearm over the armed heist of A
and Z Tekowiti on May sixteen. Two people both armed entered,
demanded cash and fled on a farm style motorbike. In August,
there was a spate of sightings around Waikato. Phillips was
(01:43):
seen in two different Bunnings warehouse stores disguising himself with
glasses and a surgical mask. He used cash to buy
items which suggested he may have set up a campsite,
including headlamps, batteries, seedlings, buckets and gum boots. In September
twenty twenty three, police revealed they'd received fourteen reports of
sightings of Phillips, None turned out to be positive. November
(02:07):
that year, Phillips and one of his children allegedly stole
a quad bike from a rural wye at though property
and then broke into a shop. Security footage of the
pair shows them smashing the front glass and fleeing north
after the alarm was set off at about two am,
Tom and the kids were spotted by peg hunters in
the Madacoppa area at the beginning of October, the first
(02:27):
time they've been seen all together since they went missing
in December twenty twenty one. They were wearing camo gear
hiking through farmland carrying backpacks. Police and air support, including
the Air Force helicopter, were sent to the area but
found nothing.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
The kid's mother, though, cat she was happy to have
proof they were all alive.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So that brings us up to last month. August twenty
twenty five, Phillips and one of his children were caught
on CCTV breaking into a Pure Pure cuparette, which he
also targeted in November twenty twenty three. He used a
power tool suspected to be an angle grinder to break
into the barred back door and stole groceries before speeding
(03:10):
off on a quad bike. That takes us up until now.
Police were called by a member of the public who
thought they were witnessing a burglary about two thirty am
Monday at a rural farm supply store. PGG writes in
in Pure pul Behind us, two people in farm clothing
and wearing headlamps left the scene on a quad bike
(03:32):
at about three twenty am.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Police laid road.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Spikes and the bike stops at around the intersection of
Waipoona and to Our Roads, which leads to Mattacoppa.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
The first attending officer has.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Come across the bike and was confronted by gunfire at
close range. It's understood he was shot in the head
with a high powered rifle. He fell to the ground,
took cover and he was later airlifted to Waikato Hospital.
He received critical injuries and will require multiple surgeries. Soon after,
a second patrol unit.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Arrived and shopped Phillips. He died at the scene.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Multiple firearms were found on and around the quad bike.
A number of items stolen from the store were also found.
The latest update as of about ten to six on
Monday evening was that the two remaining children were found
by police. They were found at about four point thirty
pm in Bush, roughly two kilometers from the location where
(04:31):
their father, Tom Phillips died. Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rodgers
said to know the children are safe and now receiving
care after nearly four years is an absolute relief. She said,
While they are safe, this is the start of a
long journey of recovery and their welfare remains a top priority.
(04:52):
For that reason, they will not go into details about
where they are now and their mental state. We spoke
to way Tomo District Mayor John robertson mid afternoon in
Takawiti before the latest development. So John, tell me a
little bit about the area that we're looking at here.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So the area is really rugged, sort of classic King
Country hills, steep hills. This is out Maracoppa wise, out
by the coast, you know, rugged West Coast New Zealand,
vast areas of native forest. There's a lot of dock
(05:39):
conservation land out there. So I think of the Waitomo
district there's something like twenty percent is in dock estate.
So and sparsely populated, you know, so metal roads from
council roads going down and you know, often just a
few farmers are just serving a few farms in the area,
(06:01):
and so.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
The population is one of the smallest council areas. But
you mentioned before one of the district is actually one
of the largest in the country.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
It's large for the North Island. It's three and a
half thousand square kilometers, which is about the size of
Hamilton City. Waipa District Council and Otronga Council, So it
is the Waitomo as part of the we're in the
center of the king country is a big, vast area.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Years and do you know Tom and Tom's family?
Speaker 3 (06:35):
No, I don't. I've not known Tom. The family is
a family that's been in that area for a long time,
good farming people. And while I made contact early on
with them, they've wanted their privacy respected too, So the
local community is their community, and the mayor has kept
(06:58):
away through that time.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
In terms of how long this ordeal has taken, nearly
four years, or exactly four years if you count the
first time him and the kids went missing. It's an
incredible time and an incredible amount of time for the
whole country and even internationally people looking at the district
and that's probably something that you're not used to out here.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
What's it been like.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Look, the focus has come on periodically. So when obviously
when when Tom disappeared the second time, there was a
and you know, and the first time I guess there
was a very big presence of police for a week
or so. Since then, there's been these alleged sightings and
(07:49):
alleged robberies, and so you know, every six months or so,
and so the police times have come in in a
number of but not stayed for long. So it had
you know that the attention has been on Tom, but
(08:10):
it's been every six months or so when there's an
alleged sighting.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
More has it been the talk of the town.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Over the almost four years. It's not something that we
wake up to every day and think, oh, where's Tom.
It is something that we periodically think about, the children especially,
And then when there's been an incident or a sighting
or an alleged robbery, the community has chatted a bit
(08:38):
and wondered was that Tom or not? And the police
have had clearly had their evidence and have known more
than the community has.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
In terms of how this has ended, obviously one of
the more tragic circumstances that it could have ended.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It could have ended in a multitude of ways.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
How do you think do you think that police or
everyone has gone about this the right way? Do you
have any ideas on how to perhaps should should we
have done better?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Yes we we we should have done better, but that's
not a blame on the police. I you know about
a year ago, you know, I guess I started chatting
to people about whether there's a way to encourage Tom
(09:33):
to come out with a negotiated type agreement because we
all know that there's a custody issue behind this as well,
and that that that those situations are really complex to
get through. But yeah, I did think a year ago,
(09:56):
in fact, I called the Commissioner for Children in Wellington
and said, I wonder whether there is a way where
someone from the outside with manna could come in and
quietly see if an agreement, if there was a way
(10:18):
through it. And it's really difficult, I acknowledge that. So
the police, well, obviously the police have charges against Tom,
but those sorts of things could be negotiated by the police,
and I think a few months ago the police said
that they would be prepared to negotiate the custody of
the children sits with the family court. And there's no
(10:41):
easy way to have an agreement with a family court,
and no easy way to get agreement anyway, but to
get an agreement with the family court in a situation
like this. But I think we do need to reflect
on this and see whether there is and it may
(11:06):
require legislation to I mean, some act around this, whether
it's even the powers of the Commissioner for the Children,
whether there's a way of having someone pull together the
various parties, and some of them are government departments and
sit around a table and say, well, actually the solution
(11:28):
could possibly be negotiated through quietly through contacts. I don't know,
hard I know, but much better than the outcome that
we've come to today.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Well, the outcome is probably one of the worst. And
I suppose knowing that he was armed through the elector
the robberies over the years as well, had police on guard,
so to speak, in terms of the solution that we've
come at day, what do you think.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
The way forward is?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Look, the police will do an investigation. Now I'm looking
forward to seeing the completion of that and then to
see whether there can be And it comes back to
what I've just been saying, whether we need, you know,
be good to see the Commissioner for Children be able
(12:25):
to make a submission into this process too. So you know,
the outcome we've got to is the outcome we've got,
and it's really tragic, and so you know, I guess, yeah,
(12:46):
the learnings from this perhaps we can bring forward and see, Yeah,
if there's a better way. We knew, you know that
if this, if Tom was confronted. I'm sure the police
knew that if he was confronted, there could be an issue.
(13:08):
In this instance, I think rightly the police did what
they did and managed to find him, but I don't
think anyone would have thought it would have ended in
such a violent way. So it's very sad.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
And the police officer who was first on this saying
he was local, he's a.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Local cop from pu pu Ari area, yes, and long term, long.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Serving, And that must be terrible for the community. It
seems so tight knit.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah, yeah, very sad.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Yeah, are you okay? Yep?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
But I mean this is the you know, when you
think of the impact on the community. We know the
people in this, you know, we know the family of
Mara copa, Tom's family. We know the cop and the family,
and so yeah, have you spoken to his family?
Speaker 1 (14:15):
No?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I haven't. I think I just need to give them time.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
And if you had a word to the community about
how to feel, or had any words of advice, what
would they be.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Look, we the community will do this. I don't need
to advise them. They will support those most closely impacted.
So it's a great, great community. The Maricopa community out there,
farming community will come around and pupurea as well.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Oh, thank you so much for talking to us today.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
John, all right, now you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at enzdherld dot co dot nz.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
The Front Page is produced.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
By Jane Ye and Richard Martin, who is also our editor.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I'm Chelsea Daniels.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you
get your podcasts, and tune in tomorrow for another look
behind the headlines.
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