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Hawkes Bay accountant Catherine Marlow was strangled with her favourite scarf during a ferocious battle with her killer, a police source has revealed.
As British police continue to hunt the killer of the 28-year-old found murdered in her London office 12 days ago, a Scotland Yard source has told the Herald that Ms Marlow put up a fierce struggle to save her life.
"She fought for several minutes with her attacker, literally tooth and nail," the source said.
The source also revealed that the killer used Ms Marlow's scarf to kill her.
"She was strangled by her own scarf, which was her favourite, distinctive burgundy scarf that she wore."
A CCTV image of Ms Marlow at a delicatessen on the morning of her murder shows her wearing the scarf.
The police source said skin samples believed to be from the killer were found under Ms Marlow's fingernails which could provide vital DNA clues to the identity of her killer. "She fought for her life. The attacker could well have scratch marks on his face."
Police also have a CCTV image of what they believe could be her killer inside the building. The video is of poor quality, but police are using special techniques to enhance the footage.
A post mortem examination found Ms Marlow died of asphyxiation but was also savagely beaten and left in a pool of blood. The source said detectives now believed she was attacked outside her office.
"She was either having a cigarette or just about to leave the building and was dragged back inside."
Ms Marlow had gone to the office, a short walk from her southwest London home, on the Saturday of her murder.
She arrived about 9.30am and contacted a friend at 13.36pm to say she would meet the friend outside a nearby supermarket at 2pm, but never showed up. Police believe she was murdered in the intervening minutes.
Her body was found in the office shower, fully clothed, just after 9.30pm by a colleague who had gone with a group of her friends to the office to find her when she failed to make another meeting. He is one of three men who has been arrested in relation to the murder, but was later released.
Another man remains in custody after admitting stealing Ms Marlow's Visa card and trying to use it at an ATM, while a third man was released on bail.
Ms Marlow's handbag was found on Vauxhall St, also in southwest London.
After publicity about the find, a witness told police he had seen a man dumping the handbag in a bin on the afternoon of the murder. Police have appealed to the man to come forward or for further sightings of him.
Ms Marlow's body is yet to be returned to New Zealand, but a memorial service was held for her yesterday in Hastings.
Details of her death were put aside as people gathered inside Hastings' Sacred Heart Church to celebrate her life.
About 300 people filled the church where Ms Marlow's cousin, Father Damian Dempsey, led the morning memorial service.
"All of us would agree that Catherine has been taken from us too early," he said. "As a kid, Catherine was a rat bag. I am family so I can say that and I mean it in an affectionate way.
"Catherine was the youngest in the family and among the youngest of the cousins. Perhaps she had to be [strong] to survive the rough and tumble of us [the family]," he said.
Ms Marlow's brother and sister, Brendan and Debbie, with her parents, Bernie and Claire, attended the memorial, with friends and former workmates from around Hawke's Bay.
As people left the memorial service, they were invited to sign a tribute card in the church.
The family, in a memorial notice printed on Tuesday, had asked the media to keep away from the church during the memorial service.
