Blessie Gotingco murder accused revealed

The trial for the man accused of murdering Auckland woman Blessie Gotingco is due to begin today.

This is the man accused of murdering Auckland woman Blessie Gotingco.

Justice Timothy Brewer gave permission this morning for media to publish the face of the man facing trial in the case but continued suppression of his name.

A jury was being impanelled this morning at the High Court at Auckland ahead of the trial.

Mrs Gotingco, a 56-year-old mother of three, was last seen leaving her workplace, Tower Insurance in the CBD, about 7pm on May 24, 2014.

She took a bus from Lower Albert St to Birkdale Rd and it is thought she was walking the short distance home when she encountered her alleged attacker.

The defendant lived within a couple of kilometres from Mrs Gotingco's Salisbury Rd home and less than a kilometre from the bus stop she got off at.

Mrs Gotingco's body was found in an area of bush at the Birkenhead-Glenfield cemetery on Eskdale Rd.

The Crown have also charged the man with sexual violation.


- NZME.