A scene examination taking place at the Glendene property yesterday, a day after two people were found dead. Photo / Dean Purcell
A scene examination taking place at the Glendene property yesterday, a day after two people were found dead. Photo / Dean Purcell
A woman supported on each side by two others sobbed in court yesterday as a man accused of murdering a father and daughter a day earlier stood silently in the dock.
The man, 27, was making his first appearance in court since being arrested about 90 minutes after police were alerted to the shooting deaths of a man and woman in the West Auckland suburb of Glendene on Friday afternoon.
Barrister Brandyn Gloyn, in the Waitakere District Court on behalf of the man's defence counsel Ron Mansfield, told Justice of the Peace Jacqueline Jonson that the man consented to being remanded in custody until his next appearance, at the High Court in Auckland on August 3.
No plea was entered.
Jonson granted name suppression until August 3, along with wide-ranging suppression orders, including of the identities of the man and woman found dead at the Barrys Rd property.
Police found the pair's bodies after arriving at the address at 3pm on Friday.
The Herald understands the victims are a father and daughter, and that the woman's dog was also shot dead.
An armed police officer at the scene of a double homicide in the West Auckland suburb of Glendene on Friday. A man and woman were found dead at the scene. Photo / Hayden Woodward
The sobbing woman in the court's public gallery yesterday was among about 10 people led by police and security guards to one side of the gallery, while five people were led to the other side.
There was a heavy police presence at the courthouse, with three police officers and a security guard standing between the two groups, and a second security guard also in the courtroom.
Half a dozen police officers also stood outside the courthouse entrance, where tearful friends or family of the victims were seen clutching flowers and embracing.
They did not want to speak to media.
The man now facing two counts of murder appeared in the dock wearing a blue boiler suit and showed no emotion.
Jonson addressed the public gallery, acknowledging it was an "emotional time for family".
"But the sanctity of the court must be upheld, and I ask you to stay in your seats and remain silent."
There was a heavy police presence inside and outside Waitakere District Court on Saturday as a man appeared in court charged with two counts of murder. Photo / Dean Purcell
Online, family members posted loving tributes to the pair.
The deaths were "ripping me apart", wrote one on Facebook.
"Our family will never be the same. Two beautiful souls gone, just like that.
"Love you so much dad, it has been my absolute pleasure to have had the opportunity to call you my father-in-law."
"Our stunning princess, my lovely, beautiful sister-in-law - both gone way too f***ing soon ... you will never be forgotten."
Police remained at the Barrys Rd property yesterday, some in boiler suits as a scene examination took place, and residents were warned to expect an increased police presence until today.
No one else was being sought in connection with the investigation, Detective Inspector John Sutton said.
"[Police] believe that those involved were known to each other."
Post-mortem examinations would take place "in the coming days".
A scene examination taking place at the Glendene property yesterday, a day after two people were found dead. Photo / Dean Purcell
Barrys Rd residents told the Herald on Sunday they heard gunfire and screams on Friday before police - some armed with rifles and others in the Eagle helicopter above - swarmed the area.
