KEY POINTS:
Police are considering murder charges against a teenage girl accused of lighting a fire that killed a mother of three.
The girl is a former friend of one of the sons of victim Lynette Chapman, 49, and has already been charged with the arson of the Pukekohe family home 12 days ago.
"I hate her," Brad Chapman, 18, told the Herald on Sunday. "Part of our family tree is now wiped out. She won't be there for when we have Christmas, birthdays and be a grandma if we have children."
He said he and the girl fell out two weeks before the fire.
She and an 18-year-old youth have been charged with arson, and Detective Inspector Mark Gutry confirmed police were considering more serious charges, including murder, when the pair reappear in the Pukekohe Youth Court on Thursday.
Brad said the people responsible for the fire had ruined "a lot of lives".
Brad, Todd, 20, and their younger brother Cole, who turned 12 yesterday, have described their mother as the rock of their lives.
The three sons were pallbearers at their mother's funeral last week. They wrote notes on her coffin, which was painted Ford Royal Blue - a nod to her love of hot rods.
"I just wrote down 'I will miss your hugs, I love you and goodbye' ... like, when she was going down in the crematorium," said Cole.
Todd wrote: "We miss you, we love you, we always loved your hair. Rest in peace, have fun up there."
The three sons were at their father Steve's house in Pukekohe on the night of the fire.
"I was in bed asleep because I love my mattress and I was enjoying a good sleep," said Cole. "Todd woke me up and said 'Mum's house is on fire'. I was hoping that he was exaggerating and just saying like it was our garden shed caught on fire and burned down.
"Then I heard the police radios and two policemen standing in the hallway outside my bedroom."
The boys were taken to the police station, where they waited for two hours before confirmation their mother had died.
"I just thought it was a nightmare and I wasn't waking up to it," said Brad, who praised police, friends and Victim Support.
They said their mother, a receptionist at a podiatrist clinic in Pukekohe and a Barnardos caregiver for 10 years, was kind and caring - and one of the best cooks.
Brad said he would miss her advice and friendship.
"She was a good person to come to and talk to - she was a great mate."
The boys have driven past the gutted house, but have yet to go inside. Some personal belongings have been returned to them, including some of their mum's jewellery.
"When we drive past you can see right through mum's bedroom," said Cole. "Right into the bathroom and outside and you just think that was once the house we loved.
"You don't realise how precious life is, like when you lose someone in your life it makes a huge change."
Lynette and Todd were planning a combined 50th and 21st birthdays celebration later in the year.
Cole said his mother would normally have baked a cake for his birthday yesterday. "We were planning to do something together but it's not the same now."
Cole, who is just about to start school again, said it was hard for people to know what to say to him and his brothers.
"If you start crying, you let it all out so you try not to hold it in. That makes you feel better."
All three are now living with their father - they have yet to decide whether to go to court this week.
And while they have strong feelings about the accused arsonists - "I just don't know how sick you can be to burn down a house," says Brad - they say their mother would have been more forgiving.
"She is the type of lady that would forgive them," said Cole.
"Mum wouldn't want us to be cold and bitter about it," said Todd.
"Mum was very spiritual. She believed in life after death. We will be going to clairvoyants ... we hope we can stay in touch with Mum."
