Memorial fund for murdered tourist

.Karen Aim at the top of the Franz Josef Glacier in Westland.

A memorial fund has been set up for murdered Scottish tourist Karen Aim.

Donations to the fund will go towards the airfare of a friend who will accompany her body home to the Orkney Islands.

Any remaining money would be used for a permanent memorial to the 26-year-old in Taupo, where she was killed six days ago, the Taupo District Council said yesterday.

Police continue to hunt for the killer or killers of Ms Aim, who died shortly after being found in a pool of blood near Taupo Nui-a-Tia College in the early hours of Thursday.

The council said the Karen Aim Memorial Fund had been set up because members of the community wanted to do something for her family after her "tragic and unnecessary death".

The council has also started a condolence book and announced details of a memorial service for Ms Aim to be held at a local church next Tuesday.

Taupo Mayor Rick Cooper called on "all of the decent, caring people of the Taupo community" to sign the book or attend the service to show support for Ms Aim's family.

"The Taupo community now needs to pull together and demonstrate to our own people and to the wider world that the senseless act of January 17, when Karen Aim's life was taken, will not be tolerated," he said.

The condolence book was placed in the foyer of the Great Lake Centre yesterday and will remain there until Friday afternoon.

Alan Robertson, a close friend of Ms Aim's who is from the Orkney Islands but lives in Taupo, will pass the book to her family.

He will also accompany her body home.

More than 50 police continue to search for her killer.

Investigation head Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner said officers were working through information gathered from the public and speaking to people in an area canvass.

A criminal profiling unit that arrived from Auckland on Monday had been asked to provide clues on a motive, and identify any other lines of inquiry.

Mr Turner renewed his call for vandals responsible for damage at Taupo Nui-a-Tia College shortly before Ms Aim was found to come forward.

Police have previously said they are looking at links between the vandalism and the attack on Ms Aim.

* Donations to the Karen Aim Memorial Fund can be made at the Taupo branch of the Bank of New Zealand, Taupo District Council offices, and Taupo district iSite centres.

* The memorial service will be held at St Paul's Church in Taupo at 5.30pm on Tuesday.