Tucked away in a quiet corner of Northland, with majestic ocean views and Marsden Point just across the bay, Quinn Patterson once lived.
There he enjoyed a quiet life with his former partner.
But he also battled with his neighbours - a battle over rent, power bills, and what he called his "loss of quiet enjoyment".
What is thought to be the 55-year-old's badly burned remains were recovered last night from his rented home on Mount Tiger Rd, just north of Whangarei.
The house was burned to the ground after he shot and killed Wendy Campbell and her daughter, Natanya, on Wednesday morning during what was supposed to be routine property inspection.
Contractor Jeff Pipe was also shot and wounded and has been recovering in Whangarei Hospital with his family by his side, some of whom have arrived from Christchurch.
Details of the man, locals have described to the Herald as a recluse and "loner", and the life he tried so desperately to keep hidden, have emerged in the days since the shooting.
This morning police confirmed to the Herald that Patterson did not have a firearms licence despite building up an arsenal of weapons, which reportedly included grenades, shotguns, rifles and handguns.
Neither police nor Customs officials will discuss how Patterson was able to build his cache of firearms, with allegations from neighbours that he had been importing them from overseas.
Patterson, who moved to New Zealand from Canada with his parents as a child, lived in the Whangarei area for several years and rented a number of properties. In about 2010 he began living alone on Mount Tiger Rd.
However, during a three week period over Christmas 10 years ago, in the idyllic setting of McLeod Bay in Whangarei Heads, Patterson fought with neighbours and his landlord, Vicki Reeves.
He wanted his peace - he claimed it had been "disturbed".
During hearings at the Tenancy Tribunal in Whangarei, the first of which was held on July 4, 2008, Patterson gave evidence that on several occasions his life had been disrupted by loud music and parties coming from Reeves' home, just metres away from his rented Stuart Rd house.
"He advised that during this time the landlords were away on holiday but their son continued to reside in the house," the tribunal said.
At the hearing Patterson's partner at the time, Christina White, also gave evidence.
She supported his claims for "loss of quiet enjoyment".
Before Reeves left for her holiday she told Patterson to call her if there was any problems.
Patterson said he and White did on two occasions and visited his landlords' house on at least three occasions to ask their son, Michael Lenz, to be more considerate.
But, the noise continued and Patterson phoned noise control, the tribunal said.
After Reeves returned, Patterson said there were still problems with noise but that eventually things returned to what he described as "reserved normality".
Lenz, who was 18 at the time, told the Herald Patterson didn't appear to have any weapons while he was living in McLeod Bay.
"He didn't own any guns, he kept a lot of stuff in his house from memory ... He was a bit of a strange dude, but I've met stranger dudes than that.
"He was into his western movies."
Lenz said he recalled Patterson having friends over at one stage but also had a sense things were a little odd.
"I wouldn't have picked him to do what he did, but that was 10 years ago, a lot of things can happen in that time."
It is understood Patterson left the McLeod Bay property after White moved to Australia.
Patterson also battled with Reeves over the refund of his bond, and had rent in arrears and outstanding bills for electricity and water.
He further applied for exemplary damages by claiming his landlord did not lodge the bond with the bond centre, however the tribunal eventually dismissed the claims.
Reeves did not wish to comment about her former tenant.
Patterson, who had two children, was running his own business in Whangarei - Ab Fab House Maintenance Services. However, it is understood he was struggling financially in recent times because of work drying up.
None of his former neighbours were aware of Patterson's violent past.
He stabbed police dog handler Bruce Howat several times with a 30cm hunting knife in Hamilton in the 1980s.
He was finally convicted in 1984 and sentenced to 18 months' prison for grievous bodily harm.
Mount Tiger Rd neighbour Brad Walters told the Herald today he wasn't aware of Patterson's past violence against the police officer.
He alluded to other neighbours keeping a watchful eye on Patterson, but wouldn't be drawn into publicly talking about it further.
He earlier told the Herald that after Patterson moved into his rural property on the narrow and windy road his love of guns began to develop.
"He just shot in his back lawn by the sounds of it, you could hear it from here, you could hear it from everywhere," Walters said.
"They were big guns. we're talking automatics, semi-automatics, big calibres. They sounded like cannons, you could hear them going off with, like, 16 rounds.
"He was just sort of a law unto his own."
Students were asked if they'd changed a nappy in the days leading up to the outbreak.