Doubt over weapon used to kill mother

Police believe a machete found in a blood-soaked house where a woman was killed might not have been the murder weapon.

The 36-year-old mother of six children was dead in the lounge of the house in Otara, South Auckland, when police and ambulance officers arrived shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

Her 25-year-old cousin was lying critically hurt in the same room of the Gilbert Rd house.

Both had head injuries. The badly hurt woman was rushed to Middlemore Hospital and transferred to Auckland where she had several hours of emergency surgery.

Her condition yesterday was reported to be critically life-threatening and doctors and police fear she could die.

The dead woman's husband, Sione Uluakiola, appeared in the Manukau District Court yesterday and was remanded in custody until March 9.

He has been charged with his wife's murder, assaulting the badly hurt woman and threatening to kill.

Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Gutry said police could not confirm what caused the dead woman's fatal head injuries until a post mortem examination was completed.

However, Mr Gutry said after speaking to some of the seven children in the house who saw some of the incident they now believed the machete might not have been the weapon used in the attack on the two women.

He said it was possible a lump of wood found at the house was used in the attack.

- NZPA