A Hawke's Bay teenager who befriended a man on Tinder before planning to kill him for his car has pleaded guilty to murder.
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Rosie Lewis appeared in the High Court in Napier this morning where she admitted robbing and murdering Indian national Sandeep Dhiman.
Dhiman's lifeless body was found in a ditch in Tutira in northern Hawke's Bay on 18 December last year.
Lewis was jointly charged with Napier teenager Shaun Karauria, who was last month jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 12 years.
The two teenagers hatched a plan to steal Dhiman's car and kill him after Lewis matched with him on the dating app, Tinder.
Lewis and Karauria had initially planned to kill another Indian national Lewis met on Tinder, but the man made up excuses not to meet her, believing she was only interested in his car.
The teenager then turned her attention to Mr Dhiman and convinced him to take her, Karauria and another male out to Tutira.
It was here that Karauria stabbed the 30-year-old nine times with a butcher knife and stomped on his head.
When the group began to drive off in the dying man's car, Lewis said she thought she saw his body move, so Karauria reversed the car and continued the assault.
The following morning Karauria listed the car on a local Facebook page and asked if anyone wanted to buy it.
Mr Dhiman's body was found by a passing tanker driver around the same time that day.
This morning Justice Rebecca Ellis lifted an order suppressing Lewis' identity and remanded her in custody for sentencing on 27 July.
