Police dismiss mental patient link in nurse's murder

Michelle Beets studied at Epsom Girls Grammar and worked at Green Lane and Middlemore before going overseas. Photo / Supplied

Australian police have dismissed speculation that a mentally ill patient may have murdered New Zealand-born nurse Michelle Beets.

However, detectives on the case are going through lists of patients, colleagues and friends she has known in a bid to find clues to who slashed Sydney nursing manager Michelle Beets' throat, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Ms Beets' body was found outside her Chatswood home on Tuesday night after her partner received a call from a security company to inform him their burglar alarm had just been triggered.

The Daily Telegraph reported that police believed a mental patient might have killed the 57-year-old Ms Beets may have been murdered by a mental patient but Superintendent Terence Dalton said this was incorrect.

"A number of her work colleagues have been interviewed thus far, statements have been taken, her family have been spoken to and the police will continue along those lines of inquiry," he told AAP today.

Superintendent Dalton has also denied rumours that Ms Beets' partner is in hiding.

"He's not in protective custody. He's certainly been very cooperative with the police and the police are in constant contact with him," he told ABC.

He said police "don't believe that it was ... a break-and-enter", although the burglar alarm had been set off and there were scratches on the back door.

Superintendent Dalton said it appeared Ms Beets had been attacked on the veranda before she could make it into the house, according to the Australian.

He added that detectives were still reviewing CCTV footage from a Chatswood shopping centre Ms Beets had visited before her death.

- NZHERALD STAFF