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A woman real estate agent has described for the first time how she thought she'd be killed when an interested buyer lured her to a remote property, before launching a vicious and prolonged attack and then trying to kidnap her.
The battered and bruised agent escaped when she managed to stab the man in the head with a screwdriver as he tried to force her into his car boot.
"I thought I was going to die - he was that violent," the agent told the Herald on Sunday when speaking publicly for the first time since last weekend's attack in Wairarapa. "I was thinking about saving my life ... there was so much going through my mind - the kids, my husband, my family.
"Just making decisions was a big thing - 'do I do this or don't I?' It was quite surreal. I felt like this was something happening on TV, but somehow your survival instinct kicks in and you have to do it, deal with it."
The attack has led to renewed calls for extra security and precautions for female agents, many of whom have photographs and cellphone numbers alongside homes they are marketing. Often they're alone when showing potential buyers houses.
The mother of boys aged 13 and 10 says there was nothing to suggest the man would suddenly turn violent, as she showed him through the large home on a lifestyle block at Longbush, near Carterton, last Saturday morning.
She said the man, who had arranged the appointment over the phone the previous week, was wearing a baseball cap and looked normal, as he expressed what she considered genuine interest in the property.
"It's not something you expect to happen here. It's something you might hear about in the States. It's fairly casual here - it's not like Auckland. So there wasn't anything unusual that twigged; no alarm bells rang."
The attack started as the tour of the house was ending.
"After we looked around the property we got back to the door like we were going to leave, and he just grabbed me around the throat and threw me to the ground."
The man attacked and punched the woman repeatedly, tying her up with tape and demanding her handbag and personal belongings.
"He stole everything. He told me what he wanted - he told me he wanted my money but I'd rather leave it at that. There was more to it than what he said and that became obvious later on."
The agent won't elaborate, but doesn't believe there was a sexual motive.
As the man dragged her outside and tried to bundle her into his car boot, she reached in for a screwdriver, and stabbed him in the head. She ran back inside the house, screaming and locking the door. The man fled in his car.
"He stole everything ... it's horrible. I went [back] outside. I didn't know which way to go. I heard the neighbour coming up the driveway ... he'd heard my screams."
The woman said the attack was traumatic and had left her with nightmares. Her body is battered and bruised and both eyes are black. The agent of five years said it was too early to say whether she'd return to the job she loves so much.
"Once I've stopped having people around me, there's going to be a trust thing. There's going to be a 'meeting a stranger' issue. I haven't come across that yet but I am sure it's going to happen. The terrible thing is, I saw someone the other day that looked like him... and I freaked."
A week on the agent feels angry and traumatised.
"I hate him for thinking he could take over - you know, just take over my life. How dare he think he could do this to me ... You know, I have lost everything ... it's like I can't even begin to forget what happened.
"In my job, you don't expect someone to attack you randomly - it's hard to know how to protect yourself."
Nigel Craig Whakarau, 38, was remanded in custody on charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, burglary and assault with a weapon and is due to reappear in the Masterton District Court later this month.
