KEY POINTS:
Police have arrested a man for the murder of the woman whose decomposing body was found off a Waikato state highway.
A 45-year-old man was charged on Saturday with threatening to kill Rowena Kopara, 35, an Otara mother of three.
But at lunchtime today, police announced they have charged the man with murder.
The man, a driver from Papatoetoe West, appeared in Manukau District Court briefly this afternoon.
He has interim name suppression, and was remanded in custody to re-appear on February 7.
At a press conference in south Auckland, Ms Kopara's family said they were pleased that someone had been charged.
"But we do want to say that we do not want any animosity against the person," Ms Kopara's mother, Rewa Witika, told journalists.
"We are pleased to have her body back now.
"I think he will be punished, and not just by the law, he himself will punish himself. I don't need to do that."
She said she had asked her family to hold no ill feelings towards the charged man.
Today would have been Ms Kopara's 36th birthday.
She was last seen on January 20 and her body was found last Sunday at a layby north of Morrinsville on State Highway 27.
Ms Kopara died a violent death sometime between January 20 and Sunday night when a motorcyclist found her body at the back of the layby.
Police could not rule out further arrests and Mr Devoy would not speculate if police suspected anyone else was involved.
The investigation was now focused on missing items of clothing and personal belongings. They are:
* her tan or caramel skirt
* a black top with a white floral pattern
* a pair of white jandals
* her white handbag
* a Nokia cellphone
* a gold ring with three rubies.
