KEY POINTS:
A young woman stabbed to death last night was running away from her 50-year-old partner along a Dunedin street.
The 21-year-old woman died from multiple stab wounds while her partner was in Dunedin Hospital today with self-inflicted stab wounds, police said.
No one else was being sought.
Witnesses saw the woman running along Bay View Rd, St Kilda, after screams were heard from the couple's home about 9pm.
A neighbour said he saw her in a desperate state with a man chasing her.
"She was covered in blood...I saw a guy chasing the girl down the middle of the road," he told the Otago Daily Times.
"Another guy from the house tried to stop him...then he just started to stab himself."
The man stabbed himself three or four times in the chest, collapsed, then got to his feet before stabbing himself again, the witness said.
The woman died before emergency services had a chance to tend to her.
Detective Senior Sergeant Steve McGregor said the man remained in a stable condition in Dunedin Hospital today as a team of 36 detectives and police staff investigated.
"While we have already spoken with a number of people and are continuing to do so today, we are also keen to hear from anybody else who may have witnessed the events surrounding this incident...," Mr McGregor said.
He said there were five 111 calls to the southern communications centre and police wanted to hear from the people who made those calls.
Police were also setting up a caravan today near where the incident occurred, at the Kings High School end of Bay View Rd.
A post mortem was being held today but it appeared the woman died as a result of multiple stab wounds, Mr McGregor said.
He said no one was being sought in relation to the stabbing, which appeared to have followed an argument between the couple.
- NZPA
