Murder victims 'weren't being chased'

Police have dismissed speculation that Toni-Anne Nathan and Mikaere O'Sullivan were being chased at high speed from Auckland to the Bay of Plenty before they were murdered.

The couple were found shot dead under the Wairoa River Bridge at Te Puna, north of Tauranga, early on Monday.

Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner said yesterday that police now had a sighting of Ms Nathan's silver Nissan Skyline on a road between Auckland and Te Puna.

"We have a least one noting of the car on State Highway 2 heading toward Tauranga," he said.

The couple are believed to have been murdered at 2.46am, when several residents living near the Wairoa River Bridge reported hearing gun shots.

Police said they made a non-petrol purchase at a Caltex station in Lincoln Rd, Henderson, at 12.54am.

The Herald understands the couple bought a $20 Vodafone prepay card.

They reportedly stayed at the station for about 15 minutes after buying the card before driving away in the Skyline.

This would have left them just over 1 1/2 hours to drive to Te Puna, making their average speed for the 200km journey 126km/h.Sources told the Herald that the couple drove that fast because they were being chased.

But Mr Turner said the new sighting of the Skyline, near Ngatea, had confirmed that no one else was in the car nor were they being chased by another vehicle.

"It's definitely not anything we're aware of or actively pursuing," he said.

Police have yet to locate a blue Mazda 323 or Toyota Corolla seen under the Wairoa River Bridge in the hours leading up to the murder.

Police are also focusing on Henderson, where Mr O'Sullivan and Ms Nathan lived before moving this year to Whangamata and then Omokoroa, about 10km north of where they were killed.

They are understood to have made almost weekly journeys to Henderson and Whangamata until their deaths.

Relatives of the pair have rejected suggestions the crime was drug-related or that they used drugs.

"There's no drugs as far as we know," Mr O'Sullivan's father, Doug, said yesterday.

He said he was at a loss for a motive for the murder of his "big-hearted" son and the "beautiful lady" who was his partner for 15 years.

Police are refusing to comment on whether they believe the crime is drug-related but Mr Turner said there was no suggestion the couple had gang links in Auckland.

A funeral for Ms Nathan, 39, was held in Opononi in Northland yesterday.

Mr O'Sullivan, 42, will be laid to rest in Rotorua today.

His father said he would be farewelled with a "big hangi and big haka".