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Police have dropped a charge against a 73-year-old man of assaulting a woman who was found dead in his car.
The body of Marion Ann Brown, 56, was found sitting upright in the front passenger seat of the man's vehicle parked in Waipukurau last month.
The man, whose name is suppressed, later appeared in Hastings District Court charged with assault after forensic investigators noticed minor injuries to Ms Brown's head and neck.
Autopsy results ruled out the injuries as being related to Ms Brown's death.
The man's lawyer, Steve Manning, told the Dominion Post police had confirmed they had withdrawn the charge, and a court hearing to formally withdraw it would be held next week.
Police said they were still waiting for toxicology results from Ms Brown's autopsy before a cause of death could be officially confirmed.
- NZPA
