Kylee 'devastated and relieved'

Ewen and Anna MacDonald with their children Finn, Jack, Wade and Lucy. Photo / Supplied

Kylee Guy last night broke her silence over the shock arrest in her husband Scott's murder case.

The 27-year-old hailed police as heroes for arresting the "horrible person" who allegedly murdered the father-of-two outside his home near Feilding last year.

Ewen Macdonald has denied shooting Scott, his brother-in-law, on July 8. Guy was best man at Ewen's wedding and Ewen a pallbearer at Guy's funeral.

Kylee said after the arrest she finally felt safe returning to the home she had shared with Scott and their sons Hunter and Drover.

"I'm devastated but also relieved," she said in a statement.

"The police are mine, Scottie and our two little boys' heroes. We are so thankful for what they have done for us.

"What this horrible person has done, no matter what, Anna and the kids mean the world to me and we will be with each other to get through this."

Her comment came after fresh details emerged of the dispute between Scott and Ewen for control of the Guy family farm.

Scott's father Bryan said the pair clashed after Scott, 31, returned from overseas and began working closely with Ewen.

Simmering tensions threatened to boil over about three years ago and crisis talks between the two were attended by Bryan, Kylee and Ewen's wife Anna.

"It was a concern enough that we wanted to sort it all out, we talked about it a lot," said Bryan.

Despite the murder charge, Bryan said he would allow Ewen to live at the family farm if released on bail.

"You would want him back in the family. If I harbour resentment it won't bring Scott back, and if I'm not in the right frame of mind, if I get bitter and twisted then my health is going to suffer."

Bryan said the conflict between Scott and Ewen was because both were young and "wanting to make their own mark".

"Both of them had their own ideas about how the farm should have been run. It was a whole lot of little things like how the calves were fed.

"One said they wanted to do it one way, and the other had a different idea. I guess if you dwell on it for too long, the small things become big things."

After a nine-month investigation, police swooped on the Macdonalds' Aorangi Rd home on Thursday, while Anna took their two eldest sons to school.

Forensic searchers have been scouring the drains around their family home since his arrest.

Yesterday Anna applied for permission to visit her husband in Manawatu Prison. She said she hoped to see him in the next week and felt as if she was mourning his death.

She is reported to have said that when police came to arrest her husband, she kissed him goodbye and said: "I love you".

"I had pins and needles and I felt like I was going to throw up and I didn't know what to think. It was too much to comprehend."

She then faced telling their children - Finn, 7, Jack, 6, Lucy, 4, and Wade 2 - where their father had gone.

"I told them ... and it was just heartbreaking telling them, especially the older boys. Tears just rolled down their faces and it was awful. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know how I'm going to survive actually."

Ewen Macdonald's brother Blair, a Wellington detective, said: "We are coming together as a family."

Ewen faces other charges which have been suppressed.

His lawyer Greg King said: "It wasn't him, it's as simple as that."