Man charged with murder after Tauranga death

Police examinations of the yard of the Graham Place house focused on an area of grass by the front door. Photo / sunlive.co.nz

A 41-year-old man has been charged with murder after the death of a 59-year-old woman who was killed while trying to protect her daughter early yesterday morning.

Police arrested a 41-year-old man yesterday and have now charged him with murder.

He appeared in the Tauranga District Court this morning and has been remanded in custody. He is due to reappear in the Tauranga District Court on March 7.

The accused and the deceased victim both received interim name suppression until midday tomorrow.

The Herald has learned that the victim was fatally injured trying to stop the man getting to her 27-year-old daughter.

A source said the man was connected with the family, but did not know exactly how.

"She was protecting another person, it's just one of those things that comes out of the blue," said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Emergency services were called to the two-storey family home at 5.15am yesterday. St John ambulance staff took the initial call and alerted police.

Paramedics arrived at the house to find the woman dead and her daughter seriously injured.

It is understood the alleged attacker was also seriously injured.

He and the victim's daughter were both taken to Tauranga Hospital.

Police launched a homicide inquiry and last night an armed officer stood guard outside while detectives combed the property for evidence.

Neighbours were shocked by the killing in what was a usually quiet and "nice" neighbourhood.

Gary Ellis lives a block away but could hear the fracas from his place.

"At first I thought it must've been someone watching horseracing.

"The yelling was so loud, and for so long. It was so much noise," he said.

"Then I realised it was two people - men I think - screaming at each other. One was saying, 'Come on, then, hit me! Hit me!'

"It kept going for a few minutes, them having a hard go at each other.

"When I saw the police cordon in the morning ... and I heard someone had died, I was a stunned mullet."

Another neighbour said, "There was blood all over the road, the footpath. Police had to use a water-blaster to clean it all up."

Mark Langdon lives two doors away and said the couple who lived between him and the family woke to the sound of glass smashing.

"They thought someone had just tipped one of those bins full of bottles over," he said.

"Five minutes after that, they heard what they thought was a dog outside finding it hard to breathe. Then the ambulance turned up soon after."

Mr Langdon believed the victim also had a son aged in his early 20s who lived at the house.

"I saw the young guy turn up this morning, they sat him in the back of a police car, they must have been explaining what was happening.

"He looked pretty shocked, and upset."

Graham Place was cordoned off until just after 4pm yesterday. Residents unable to get to and from their homes stood and watched as police came and went from the property.

The Fire Service used a hose to wash down an area, believed to be covered in blood, at the front of the house.

The house remained cordoned off with police tape as officers began a forensic examination of the front yard, focusing on an area of grass outside the front door.

They also put orange evidence markers around a two-door Honda parked in the driveway - registered to a Tauranga man who did not live at the property - and lifted evidence from the door on the driver's side.

They also searched inside the house thoroughly.

Officers could be seen in upstairs bedrooms and it is understood they were looking carefully at the area around the staircase.

- Additional reporting from Isaac Davison