Police investigating the murder of farmer Scott Guy are pursuing a new lead linked to a vandalism attack on his Feilding property.
The attack happened when Scott and Kylee Guy were building a home on their property at 293 Aorangi Rd on January 30, 2009.
Vandals broke windows, damaged internalwalls and plumbing and wrote offensive messages, causing nearly $14,000 of damage.
Detective Inspector Sue Schwalger said police needed to know who carried out the attack, as it could be connected to the murder of Mr Guy, who was found shot to death in his driveway on July 8 last year.
"A number of families had lived on that property over the years leading up to the damage and although Scott and Kylee owned it at the time they were not living there. By the same token the wording is clearly personal in nature without actually naming names.
"It is important that we find out why the property was targeted, whether the graffiti was just mindless vandalism, or whether it was aimed at someone in particular and is connected in some way to Scott's death."
Ms Schwalger said police had not found anything in the couple's lives that would have motivated the vandalism.
But they were concerned because the wording of some of the graffiti was personal in nature.
The phrase 'Fuken Bitch Slappr' and another offensive message which could not be disclosed in full for "investigative reasons" were painted on outside walls, she said.
"The writing itself is fairly distinctive in respect of the spelling, the word construction, the use of capital letters and the unusual 'k'.
"We need to be able to include or exclude this vandalism from the investigation as it is consuming considerable time and resource that could be better focused if it is unrelated to Scott's death.
"The team cannot afford to be distracted, so if you are responsible for this vandalism and have nothing to do with Scott's murder you need to come forward and talk to us."
Police have asked anyone with information on the vandalism attack or the death of Mr Guy to call the homicide investigation team on 0800 808585 or the anonymous Crimestoppers line 0800 555111.
