Mt Eden stabbing victim identified

Police at the scene of the stabbing on Saturday. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Police have named the man stabbed to death in a boarding house in the Auckland suburb of Mount Eden early on Saturday morning.

He was John Patrick Chambers, aged 23. Police said they understood Mr Chambers was not a resident at Eden Park Lodge, where his body was found.

Detective Inspector Bruce Shadbolt said a post-mortem examination had shown that Mr Chambers died from a single stab wound to the chest.

Mr Shadbolt said a man seen running from the Onslow Road property was being sought in relation to the stabbing, which happened about 3am yesterday.

"It is believed he is being assisted to avoid police and those doing so are being warned that they face arrest if they proceed to help the man hide."

Eden Park Lodge is just around the corner from the Mt Eden home of former Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Clark attracted public controversy when she objected to the boarding house being built nearby. She was accused of NIMBYism - "not in my back yard" - while authorising the building of welfare institutions in other people's neighbourhoods.

But this is the second serious incident at the boarding house this year. In January, a man in his 40s was left with serious head injuries after being bashed with a baseball bat.

Lodge resident Charles Kara, who lives on the second floor, said he heard people arguing and fighting on the floor above about 3am.

"I went outside to see what was going on and I saw a guy jumping out of the window and over the balcony. He climbed down, jumped the rest of the way and took off," he said.

He did not recognise the man as a resident of the building.

Kara said the man looked about 25-years-old and was wearing a green T-shirt.

Another resident, who would be identified only as Steven, said the victim and the man who left were not residents. They were visiting a friend who lived on the third floor.

"There was a party and P-smoking going on. There's always parties and fighting. This one just got out of hand," he said.

Mr Shadbolt said police had launched a homicide investigation after finding Mr Chambers lying in a pool of blood in a hallway. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police officers stayed at the house all day yesterday interviewing residents. A forensic team examined the scene and Mr Chambers' body was taken away yesterday afternoon.

Last night a police spokeswoman said police were still canvassing the area and did not know how many people were involved in the murder.

The lodge manager, Kay - who declined to give her surname - said the visiting men were not residents. "I don't know how they got in. The doors have security and you can't get in without a code. I don't know what happened because I wasn't there."

Ten years ago Helen Clark joined forces with local residents to block construction of a 61-bedroom extension to the boarding house.

The Auckland City Council approved the three-storey lodge in spite of 100 objections.

Clark's husband, Professor Peter Davis, declined to comment yesterday.

A Cromwell St resident said she did not feel safe in the area because of the boarding house.

"I wouldn't walk down Onslow St at night because I don't feel safe. I have had people shout obscenities at me as I walk past. There is a rough element that I notice around that house.

"I work in the mental health service and I know the kinds of people who live in boarding houses," she said.

About 70 people live at the boarding house. The lodge owner, Ronald La Pread, declined to comment.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY, NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF