Nark

Darcy Te Hira died in 1985 after being bashed in Mt Eden Prison. Fellow inmate Ross Appelgren was convicted of the crime. But was the evidence dodgy? After all, it was supplied by narks.

Contains strong language and violent themes

Written and hosted by Mike Wesley-Smith

On air:

Sundays at 7pm on RNZ National

Black and white grainy image of Ross Appelgren (left hand side) and Darcy Te Hira (right handside) with their faces partially obscured by the end of the image. Prison bars appear behind then, with the word 'Nark' in all caps in white with a black strip behind the words.

Follow this podcast

RSS
Apple PodcastsSpotifyIHeartRadioYouTube Podcasts

Get this podcast straight from the source in the free RNZ app: Apple App Store or Google Play

Podcast details.

Credits

Mike Wesley-Smith

Host and Writer
Liz Garton
Producer
William Saunders
Audio Engineer
Briana Juretich-Greig
Production Coordinator
Tim Watkin
Executive Editor, Audio and Script Editor
Amrita Marks
Graphics

With production support from William Ray, Justin Gregory and Phil Vine.

With audio engineering support from Rangi Powick, Jeremy Ansell, Jeremy Veal, Hamish Webber, Marc Chesterman, Steve Burridge, Alex Harmer and Ben Pierce.

RNZ photographers - Nick Monro and Mark Papalii

Legal advisers - Luke Bodle and Robert Stewart

Some archival audio supplied thanks to Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision and Mediaworks.

See images and more details about the series at www.rnz.co.nz/nark

If you have any information about this case, send an email to nark@rnz.co.nz

AI was used to recreate the voice of Ross Appelgren. The only words used were those he wrote or said during his lifetime.

Awards

Spotify

Best True Crime of 2025

Get in touch

Email us at: nark@rnz.co.nz

Other podcasts
like this one

More podcasts with similar themes or ideas that you might enjoy.

  • A sharp yellow pencil is placed in the center of a tile with a light grey background. The title 'Recovering' is above the pencil, with an underscore after 'Re'. The Media Chaplaincy New Zealand logo is at the bottom of the tile.

    re_covering

    NZ journalists discuss the one story that impacted them most.

  • Witi Ihimaera looks up. Behind him and going over his shoulders is a graphic of water. Centered at the bottom is text that reads: "Witi Underwater."

    Witi Underwater

    Witi Ihimaera throws himself into a full-immersion Māori language course.

  • A woman with short grey hair stares directly forward with a half-smile, text reads "Kim Hill Wants to Know".

    Kim Hill Wants To Know

    Award-winning

    Featured in the Apple Podcasts Top New Shows, Most Followed Shows, Top Society & Culture charts for 2025

  • A dark green background with stars, the title "Gone Fishing" in bold letters with a red target overlay, and the tagline 'Mayhem. Murder... Maybe.' Below, a winding road with a red car and silhouetted trees.

    Gone Fishing

    Mayhem. Murder. Maybe... Did Gail Maney do it or not?

  • An illustrated portrait of Peter Ellis that looks distorted by glass. A bold 'CONVICTION' sits on top.

    Conviction

    Who can you believe? Go deep into the Christchurch Civic Creche case.

  • A silhouetted figure stands in the "O" of the word "Lost". Clouds are in the top of the image and the ground is made up of a newspaper headline about a disappearance.

    The Lost

    The true stories of New Zealand's missing people... & those left behind.