KEY POINTS:
A terrified woman grabbed her young daughter and hid in an upstairs bathroom while her partner was bound, gagged and killed during a brutal home invasion.
It was not clear last night if the attackers knew the woman and 3-year-old were in the house when they struck on Saturday night.
The victim was yesterday named as Jason Noe Kia Chong Boon, 26, from Botany Downs.
Police are unable to comment in detail about what happened as three people are before the courts.
Mr Boon attended Manurewa High School until 1997. He then worked at Rainbow's End amusement park and helped his father in a speaker repair business. In 1999, he shifted to Tauranga and spent a year working at a video arcade before returning to Auckland and a job as a part-time computer consultant.
Four years ago, Mr Boon, who started learning guitar at high school, and his father patented an invention relating to speaker systems.
School friends of Mr Boon remember him as someone who loved music, computers and cars and was fun to be around.
"He was a really fun-loving guy. A really generous, nice person and very giving. He just loved life," said one friend. "It seems very surreal. You don't expect something like that to happen to someone you know."
Police have indicated that Mr Boon was known to three people who are now before the courtson a holding charge. A 27-year-old woman and two men aged 36 and 24, all from Otara, were remanded in custody until Tuesday. Their names and any description of their physical appearances are suppressed until then.
When the men appeared, one woman called out, "You ****, using people again", and another called "Love you" to one of the accused.
When the woman appeared separately, a small girl in the public gallery called out "mum" and asked, "When will you be back?"
As the woman left the courtroom she called, "Bye, my baby", to the girl.
Inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Grimstone said the three would face more serious charges at their next appearance.
