Family and friends gathered as the bodies of Mona Tuwhangai, 82, and Maurice O'Donnell,72, were removed from their home in the tiny coastal community of Kinohaku.
The elderly couple who were found dead with wanted man Ross Bremner have been named.
Mona Tuwhangai, 82, and Maurice O'Donnell, 72, were found dead in their home in the tiny coastal community of Kinohaku last night. Community members have described them as "lovely, bubbly people".
The bodies were formally identified by family on the property before two hearses brought them side by side onto Kawhia Harbour Rd about 7.30pm tonight.
Maurice O'Donnell, who was found dead last night at a Kawhia property along with his wife Mona. Photo / Supplied
About 27 family and friends touched the cars, hugged, wept and performed hongis.
One man performed an emotional haka as night descended and the rain closed in.
As the family departed, a police guard remained at the scene.
Police were hunting 34-year-old Bremner in connection with the stabbing death of his mother Clare, 60, on Tuesday night at their home in Otorohanga, about 65km east of Kinohaku.
Bremner's father, Keith, 64, was critically injured in the attack and remains in Waikato Hospital.
The bodies of the couple and Bremner were then discovered last night in their Kinohaku cottage by a visitor.
Police have said they do not know why he travelled to the house and it's not known if he knew the couple.
Waitomo darts club member Sharon Te Ngare said the couple were due at the King Country Area Darts meet today.
"They're lovely, they were really lovely. They retired from darts but still came in to support us."
Te Ngare, who has known the couple for 20 years, said Tuwhangai used a walking frame to get around and her husband was an area manager for the Clubs New Zealand Darts Association.
She didn't think the couple had any children of their own but they had raised a girl who is now in her 30s.
A woman who answered the phone at the home of Tuwhangai family members said they wanted privacy.
"Everybody just wants to get their heads around it."
Neighbour Allan Smith said the couple were a loving husband and wife and their demise has sent shock waves through the tiny community.
Smith, a farmer in the coastal settlement south of Kawhia, said he grew up with the dead woman.
Another neighbour on Kawhia Harbour Rd raised the alarm last night after she visited the couple who also spent time in Te Kuiti.
Smith said he was alerted to the situation by a phone call from another neighbour around midnight as news of the tragedy spread.
"It was an absolute shock last night and it was quite scary."
Smith said the dead woman was a well-respected member of the community who came from a "full of fun" family.
"They were a bubbly family. They were a sporting family, good at tennis."
Keith Bremner is in Waikato hospital after a stabbing in Otorohanga. He is pictured here with daughter Loren, and wife Clare, who was killed in the attack. Photo / via Facebook
Smith said the strength in small communities was that everyone pulled together in such difficult times.
"I know the community will be in a state of shock about what has occurred here."
Searches for Bremner were carried out through the upper and lower North Island.
Asked if she believed police could have done anything differently to prevent the three deaths, Hassan said she believed police had attended to priorities in the right order.
Asked if police were ill informed about Bremner's mental state as they told the public not to fear for their safety after the Otorohanga stabbing, Hassan said police had "gathered information" as they went through the investigation.
"As we go through the investigation our response might change during that time."
She also said she was "absolutely confident" with the police's investigation and denied they didn't work fast enough.
About 25 vehicles lined the narrow curved coastal road where the bodies were found. They belonged to uniformed police, detectives, forensic staff, family of the deceased, and media.
About midday a large police truck arrived as well as portaloos as police continue to examine the scene.
