Elderly woman died of stab wounds

The 83-year-old woman found dead in her Marton unit on Wednesday morning was brutally stabbed to death, police confirmed today.

Mona Morriss, who had lived in Marton for more than 20 years, was found dead in her flat by family members after last being seen in a supermarket on Monday.
Detective Sergeant Mike Arnerich, of Wanganui, today confirmed Mrs Morriss had suffered a number of injuries.

"A post mortem was conducted in Wellington, where it was discovered that Mrs Morriss was brutally and callously attacked before her death."

A team of 35 police from around the North Island has converged on the northern Manawatu town.

Mr Arnerich is calling for sightings of people near Mrs Morriss' Wellington Road unit on January 3 or 4.

"Marton is a very small community and the key to solving this brutal killing is in the Marton community," he said.

"The killer was in Marton on Monday or Tuesday, January 3 and 4. It's such a small community so someone in Marton must have seen something and knew they were here."

Marton residents have expressed disquiet at the limited amount of information being released about Mrs Morriss' death, including what injuries she had sustained.
"Although there is understandably some concern in the community at the moment, we have a very strong police presence in Marton that should reassure the residents," Mr Arnerich said.

Police are also calling for information on sharp-bladed instruments found in Marton since January 3.

"Anything that someone may have seen lying on the side of the road or in garden, we need to know about," Mr Arnerich said.

He said attempts were being made to establish if anything was taken from Mrs Morriss' flat.

The possibility she knew her attacker or attackers was being investigated and couldn't be ruled out.

Mr Arnerich said Mrs Morriss' family were distressed about her death but were providing excellent assistance to the police.

Police have described Mrs Morriss as a fit, bubbly, gentle lady who had a daily routine of walking to the local shops.

Mr Arnerich said it hadn't been possible to release the information that Mrs Morriss had been stabbed until now.

"The post mortem only happened last Thursday. The information really didn't come out of the post mortem until late Thursday night or Friday and that's when the investigation was scaled up."

Mr Arnerich said Saturday and Sunday had been spent getting the homicide investigation team in place. "We're now ready to release that information.

"If we had released it before we had nobody to do anything about it. We've now got a very strong homicide team here and we can react to the public's information," he told NZPA.

"You've got to understand that Marton is a very rural community. It doesn't have a huge police force. The incident was dealt with the best way they possibly could at the time."

Mr Arnerich said it still wasn't prudent to say what Mrs Morriss' injuries were.

It is now nearly a week since Mrs Morriss was found dead but Mr Arnerich said police would manage to deal with people's recollections being stretched by the intervening time.

"That's always an issue the longer you go on. Obviously it's something you have to take into account but we have ways and means of incorporating the information they give us, and times, down to exact times."

He said although there was another homicide investigation nearby in Wanganui where a woman was found in the Whanganui River, he had a large enough team for the Marton case.

"We'll do a thorough inquiry and we're confident we'll catch the killer -- that's what we're paid to do, not practice, and that's what we want to do."

- NZPA, WANGANUI CHRONICLE