Mum dies shielding daughter from attack

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 59-year-old woman was killed yesterday while trying to protect her daughter from a flash of violence that also left two others seriously injured.

Sandra Rachel Brown died at her home in Graham Place in Tauranga just after 5am yesterday.

Police are refusing to release any details about how she died, but have arrested a 41-year-old man.

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

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

"Sandra 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.

Mrs Brown's husband, Maxwell, was in Christchurch when she died and was yesterday trying to get back to Tauranga.

"It would have been the biggest shock to him," the source said.

"Sandra was such a lovable person. She wouldn't have had any enemies."

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 Mrs Brown dead and her daughter seriously injured.

It is understood the alleged attacker was also seriously injured.

He and Miss Brown 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 Browns 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 Mrs Brown 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 Browns' 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