KEY POINTS:
Two teenagers will be charged with murder or manslaughter after a fire in Pukekohe which killed a mother of three last month.
The 16-year-old girl and the 18-year-old man have already appeared in Pukekohe Youth Court on an arson charge.
They were due to appear again on Thursday but the more serious charges were unlikely to be laid until next week to give the Crown more time to consider aspects of the case, Detective Inspector Mark Gutry said.
He said police would be asking the court on Thursday to remand them in custody until their next appearance a week later.
They were charged with arson after Lynette Margaret Chapman, 49, died at her Wellington St home in Pukekohe on January 20.
She knew the teenagers but was not related to them.
Police said a post mortem confirmed she had died in the fire but police did not believe she had been attacked before it was lit.
The pair was jointly charged and because the younger teen was covered by the rules of the Youth Court on issues such as name suppression, the same rules would apply to the man, Mr Gutry said.
Neighbours said Ms Chapman was a "beautiful lady" with three boys aged from 13 to 20.
The boys were believed to have been staying with their father in Waiuku during the fire.
The girl charged was a former friend of one son.
- NZPA
