Mark Sales charged alongside daughter Lilli in connection to alleged murder of Ian Pullen

A sixth person has been charged in connection to the death of hero firefighter Ian Pullen, who was allegedly run down then bashed on a Hunter Valley road.

A sixth person, and the father of one of his co-accused, is set to face court in connection to the alleged murder of a New Zealand firefighter pilot.

Ian Pullen, 43, was found dead on the side of a road at Glenridding, near Singleton in the Hunter Valley, in the early hours of September 29, 2018.

The husband and father-of-three had travelled to Australia to help battle out-of-control bushfires.

Firefighter pilot Ian Pullen was found dead in the Hunter Valley in September 2018. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Pullen’s death was initially treated as a hit-and-run until a $350,000 reward prompted an anonymous tip that suggested something far more sinister.

Police allege Joshua Knight, 29, accidentally hit Mr Pullen with his car early that morning, while two other people were in the vehicle.

They allege Knight returned to the scene a few minutes later and he and Nicole Mason, 30, beat Mr Pullen to death with an unknown object to cover up what had happened.

Joshua Knight has been charged with murder. Picture: Facebook.

Nicole Mason has been charged with murder. Picture: Facebook.

Knight and Mason were each charged with murder in October last year. Knight is also charged with dangerous driving occasioning death and failing to stop and assist after vehicle impact causing death.

Police allege Lilli-Jane Kaye Sales, 21, waited in the car while Mr Pullen was killed, and that she and Ivy-Jean Ward, 27, helped hide the vehicle later on. Both women were in November charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

Lilli-Jane Kaye Sales has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder. Picture: Facebook.

Ivy-Jean Ward has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder. Picture: Facebook.

The Newcastle News on Sunday revealed ex-Nomads president Bradley Bowtell was a fifth person charged in connection to the alleged murder, after he allegedly failed to disclose information and deliberately lied during the police investigation.

In Muswellbrook Local Court on Monday it was revealed Bowtell had dropped his expensive bikie lawyer for Legal Aid after he was jailed for other offences.

Court documents said Bowtell could no longer afford to pay Roland Day, because he was forced to shut down his concreting business for his minimum 12-month stint behind bars.

Bradley Bowtell has been charged with hindering police and concealing a serious indictable offence. Picture: Facebook.

The web of alleged players has continued to grow, with Sales’s father now allegedly implicated in Mr Pullen’s death.

Mark Sales, 47, has been charged with hindering the investigation of a serious indictable offence and concealing a serious indictable offence, after he too allegedly tried to cover up what had happened.

Sales Snr is on bail and will appear in Muswellbrook Local Court on October 18.

Ian Pullen, pictured with his wife Vicki, was in Australia to fight bushfires. Picture: Supplied.

In a brief statement, a NSW Police spokeswoman confirmed Strike Force Awabakil, set up to investigate Mr Pullen’s death, remains active and the investigation is ongoing.

Speaking from New Zealand, Mr Pullen’s wife Vicki said Hunter Valley detectives had done a “superb” job keeping her family updated, but pleaded for any other witnesses to come forward.

“We all need closure on Ian’s death,” Ms Pullen said.

“We are coming up to three years for this. People need to come forward with what they know if they haven’t already.

“We need to be able to put Ian to rest and with everything still on going, that can’t happen.”

Ian Pullen and his wife Vicki, who has been diagnosed with cancer since his death. Picture: Supplied.

Ms Pullen said she hoped to travel to Australia and see her husband’s accused killers “face-to-face” if the matters proceed to trial.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and said while undergoing chemotherapy, life continued to become more difficult without her husband.

“Going through cancer on my own is hard,” she said.

“He should be by my side, but the senseless act on September 29, 2018 took that away from me.”