Laughing killers rammed victim against wall, says witness

Police inspect the burned-out car believed to have been used in the attack. Picture / Simon Baker

Two men who brutally attacked a young woman laughed as they crushed her against a wall with their car, witnesses say.

Residents near the Christchurch Squash Club saw the attack and heard the woman, believed to be a prostitute, scream and plead for her life.

A resident, who asked not be named, said another resident from the same block of flats saw "too much".

"They heard her getting hit by the car ... They saw her propped up against the wall [of the squash club] and the car hit her. I heard the smash on the concrete."

The witness added: "I think it was a body by that stage."

Reports of the attack sparked a massive police search which led to the discovery of a woman's body in the Avon River.

The partially clad body, with its hands bound, was removed from the river last night.

The witness said she heard events unfold behind her apartment as she came home after midnight yesterday.

"I thought it was kids doing stupid wheelies. There was laughing, there was screaming.

"I got a bit frightened, so I just didn't unload my car. [I] locked my car, locked my garage and took the line of least resistance, which I feel a bit bad about really," she said.

"So I went inside, went upstairs, to see if I could actually see what was happening, and that's when I heard the major smash which was the car rammed into the brick wall."

Her young neighbours ran outside and she went to try to protect them.

"I think it was when the [neighbours] turned their lights on in the back apartment ... that frightened [the attackers] away and they dragged her into the car."

Police said witnesses told them the woman, described as in her 20s of slim build with brown shoulder-length hair - was run over up to six times, before being dragged into the car and taken away.

The attack happened in an area frequented by prostitutes. Residents near the Avon River called police to report a body about 3pm yesterday.

The body lay partially submerged in mud on the north bank of the river underneath thick overhanging branches. Her hands appeared to be tied together over her chest.

Police cordoned off roads leading to the area, but groups of residents and passers-by gathered to view the body, while one man went on mowing his lawns just metres away.

"We have now begun an investigation to establish whether [the body] is connected to our incident earlier this morning," Detective Senior Sergeant Tom Fitzgerald said yesterday.

Several people had phoned police to report people missing after publicity about the carpark attack, and some of these had been ruled out.

Mr Fitzgerald said the evidence at the carpark backed up the reports of witnesses.

"We do have two witnesses who have described her as pleading for her life as she was hit once by the car, then four or five times more. They were horrified."

A prostitute who wished to be named only as Kimi said she was working on Wednesday night with the presumed victim.

She said the woman worked as a prostitute only occasionally.

"I had been working with her for the last few days. I was supposed to be looking after her."

Kimi said they were working at the corner of Oxford Tce and Manchester St when a white Honda CRX or Civic hatchback approached them.

She said two "dangerous-looking" bald-headed men asked the woman for a "threesome", and said they would pay afterwards.

She told the woman not to take the job as they looked "dodgy", and it was usual to pay before, not after.

"I said, 'Nah - don't jump in'."

Kimi left the intersection where she and the other woman were working for a short time just after midnight.

"When I came back she was gone."

Kimi was worried all night and could not sleep.

"I tried texting and I tried calling but it wouldn't go through."

The white Honda hatchback believed to have used in the attack was found burned out in the rural McLeans Island area, near Christchurch Airport, about 2.30am.

The car had been stolen from central Christchurch on Wednesday night.

Police said a similar car was seen cruising around central Christchurch before the attack with two men inside. A grey stationwagon was later seen at McLeans Island near the burned-out vehicle.

Prostitutes' Collective regional co-ordinator Anna Reed said the group had been making inquiries to see if any sex workers were missing.

So far they had nothing to indicate the woman was a sex worker.

The incident came on the same day that the Prostitutes' Collective launched a new safety kit for prostitutes working on the streets.

The kit includes a book of information and safety tips, a whistle, and a pad and pen for taking notes of suspicious activity.

The collective designed the kit in response to the murder of Christchurch prostitute Susie Sutherland in April.

The trial of the man accused of killing her, Jule Patrick Burns, was aborted this week.