Tom Phillips: How a fugitive took his kids and hid in the New Zealand wilderness

Philips was shot dead on Monday after years on the run

Listen | 17:06
On the run: Phillips family trekking through the bush in New Zealand.
On the run: Phillips family trekking through the bush in New Zealand.

Tom Phillips, a fugitive father who spent four years hiding in New Zealand’s remote wilderness with his three children was shot dead on Monday by police probing an armed burglary. The children were found unharmed.

But why did Phillips disappear in the first place, and how did he manage to evade capture for so long? New Zealand journalist Tony Wall tells the story to Bernice Harrison.

Produced by Andrew McNair.

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison is an Irish Times journalist and cohost of In the News podcast

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