A second man has pleaded guilty to the murder of a South Korean tourist who went missing on the West Coast in 2003.
Shannon Flewellen, 30, was to stand trial for the murder of Jae Hyeon Kim.
However, in the High Court in Christchurch on Wednesday he changed his earlier not guilty plea to guilty. He will be sentenced on 29 April.
Hayden McKenzie has already been sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 21 years for his role in the murder.
The officer in charge of the case, Detective Inspector John Winter, says the Kim family will be told they no longer have to endure a trial.
Mr Kim had travelled to New Zealand in February 2003 and was due home the next year to begin university.
Police say he was picked up by Flewellen and McKenzie while hitch-hiking on the West Coast sometime in September or October 2003. The pair choked Mr Kim before burying him in a lay-by near Charleston.
Mr Winter says the Kim family will be relieved to hear of the guilty plea.
