Partners in crime, cover ups and buried treasure. All the elements of a good old fashioned gold mining tale, set not in the wild west, but in rural 19th century Nelson.
The sensational true story of the Maungatapu murders is still being told 151 years on, with the play Maungatapu premiering this week as part of the Nelson Arts Festival.
It centres around four career criminals known as The Burgess Gang, who embarked on a crime spree up the West Coast, before killing five men on the Maungatapu track between Blenheim and Nelson,
Playwright Justin Eade described 1800s Nelson as "a really innocent town". "It was only about 25 years old and they'd never had a murder".
There are several landmarks around Nelson that point back to that time in history, including an old fire station, where thousands gathered to look at the bodies of the murdered men on display.
The victims are now remembered with a monument at their shared grave at Wakapuaka Cemetery.
But the murderers, convicted and hanged, are remembered in a different way.
Nelson Provincial Museum registrar Meredith Rimmer says there were many doctors present when the Maungatapu murderers were executed.
"They performed an autopsy and as part of the autopsy, their heads were decapitated and then cast in plaster" she told 1 NEWS.
The plaster casts are on display at the museum for public viewing. Meanwhile the criminal characters will be brought back to life during this week's showings of Maungatapu, with a national tour in the works for next year.
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