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The grieving family of a newlywed woman killed when a man is thought to have deliberately driven into her car earlier this week say the wrong person died.
Paramedics could not save Katie Powles, 26, who died in an ambulance in south Auckland on Tuesday night after her car was hit by a car driven by 51-year-old man police said had been drinking, was angry, and may have been intent on suicide.
The driver, an alcoholic who began drinking soon after he was released from hospital for a medical condition on the day of the crash, survived with head injuries but was sedated in Auckland Hospital and had yet to be interviewed, said police.
There was a strong possibility he could face a manslaughter or possibly a murder charge.
Today family friend Kerry Jones said, as they prepared for her funeral on Sunday, Katie's family was struggling with their grief that a bubbly, "absolute darling" of a woman was dead. She had been married four months.
Mr Jones said what the family had to say about the driver who killed their daughter could not be repeated.
"You don't really want to hear about what they feel about the driver.
"They are holding a lot back. They are not a nasty family but there is some really built up anger.
"The wrong person's dead at the end of the day. There was an innocent victim involved and if the guy was that way inclined why did he not just do it all by himself," Mr Jones said today.
He said the family had not said much about the driver but they were hoping he was held to account.
The driver also hit a second car, putting the 42-year-old man driving it in hospital with serious injuries.
Mr Jones said Katie's husband Darren was quiet and not saying a lot about his new wife's death.
"He is a real quiet-natured person and I think in a few days' time he is going to really snap and probably be really, really upset.
"He is still in a lot of shock."
Mr Jones said he had never seen her down and out.
"Katie was always full of life.
"She was always very bubbly, quite happy to get into all sorts of things, going fishing with the family, going on beach holidays," Mr Jones said.
The Waiuku community south of Auckland, had offered a "huge, huge, huge response" and the family was in good company.
Mrs Powles' parents, Peter and Diana Ennion, from Awhitu near Waiuku, are struggling to comprehend what happened to their daughter.
Mr Ennion said his daughter had died unnecessarily. "She was in the right - there was nothing she could have done. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Mr Ennion said Mrs Powles got married only four months ago.
The family were supporting each other, and her husband Darren didn't want to comment further. "It's a hard time for us."
In a death notice, Mr and Mrs Ennion paid tribute to their "baby girl always full of life and bubbly smiles" and said they would miss her on beach walks and fishing trips. "You will be missed far beyond comprehension."
Darren Powles' parents, Jeanette Bailey and Lew Powles, also paid tribute to their daughter-in-law, saying in a death notice she was "the shining light that made our son happy".
Detective Inspector Mark Gutry said the 51-year-old man left home after a row with his wife. His family was worried about him but it was members of the public who called police about his erratic driving.
Mr Jones asked why the family did not stop him driving and ring the police when they knew he had been drinking and was possibly suicidal.
"Why was his wife not more concerned?"
Mr Gutry said police were waiting on the results of forensic tests on the man's blood for a possible drug and alcohol level.
"We believe he had been drinking," Mr Gutry said.
The man was known to police for alcohol-related and drink-driving matters. He still held a driving licence, Mr Gutry said.
- NZPA
