Dead triplet's sisters tell of premonitions

Leanne Kingston (pictured) was found stabbed and beaten in her home on August 10, 2009. Photo / Supplied

A woman described having a "feeling in my guts" on the morning she found her sister brutally murdered.

Lisa Whittle told the High Court at Auckland that she became concerned for her sister, Leanne Kingston, after hearing she had not picked up her youngest daughter from school.

Cary Grant Thurgood, 43, is accused of beating and stabbing Ms Kingston, his estranged partner. He denies murdering her.

His friend Steven John Moorby, 42, is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice. He denies the charge.

Mrs Whittle told the court her husband had received a call from Thurgood, saying Ms Kingston had not picked up her daughter.

"Alarm bells were ringing. It doesn't sound right ... I had a feeling in my guts that something was not right," Mrs Whittle said.

She broke down as she described pulling up to her sister's Papakura home on the afternoon of August 10 last year.

She said Ms Kingston's car was in the driveway, her curtains were drawn and her keys were in the front door.

Mrs Whittle said she asked her daughter to come to the front door with her and remembered a strong smell of bleach.

"I walked down the hallway and I saw her hand. There was blood on the floor ... I went into shock.

"I screamed and my daughter started screaming," Mrs Whittle told the court.

Earlier, Ms Kingston's triplet sister, Nicole Berriman, told the court that she, too, had experienced a feeling that something was not right.

"As a sister, I felt something had happened and I didn't feel good that day," Mrs Berriman said.

She said she was phoned by Thurgood who sounded "panicky" and asked her if she had seen Leanne.

Later that day she took another phone call from a family member, asking her to come to Leanne's home.

"I dropped the phone," she said, breaking down in tears.

"That's when I felt she had been murdered. I dropped the phone and screamed."

Both sisters told the court that Ms Kingston believed Thurgood slashed her tyres "every couple of months" after the pair would fight.

Mrs Whittle said the last time Ms Kingston's tyres were slashed was just a week before she was murdered.

The trial has been set down for two weeks and involves up to 70 witnesses.

STABBING VICTIM

*Leanne Kingston was found stabbed and beaten in her home on August 10, 2009.

*Ms Kingston, 39, was a triplet and a mother of four children.

*Her estranged partner, Cary Grant Thurgood, has been charged with her murder. He denies the charge.

*He originally blamed his son for the murder and said he had cleaned up the scene. He has since pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice.