There was absolute silence in the High Court at Auckland as two men were sentenced to life in jail for the Red Fox cold case

Mark Joseph Hoggart and an accomplice, who has name suppression, were sentenced today for the 1987 murder of Christopher Bush at the rural Waikato pub.

The two men, each flanked by a Corrections Officer, stood quietly in the dock as Justice Woolford handed down their sentences.

Detective Senior Sergeant Michael Hayward, who was involved in reinvestigating the case, says the sentences have brought relief for the Bush family and all the investigators who have worked on the case across the past 34 years.