A Taranaki man has pleaded guilty to murdering his mother - despite claiming no recollection of the killing.

Police are investigating a homicide in Auckland tonight, where a woman has been found dead in a home.

An anti-violence group has called for the country to take a lasting stand against domestic abuse following the killing of a Taupo mother.

A Ngahere man who almost strangled his mother after earlier assaulting his wife was this week sentenced to 11 months in jail.

Mrs Ellis faced court on Wednesday charged with the premeditated killing of her husband of 20 years, and explained that he was now "in heaven".

A Hamilton man cried as he was sentenced to life in prison with a 15 year minimum non parole period for murdering his eight-month-old son.

Two men chatted pleasantly with the two fishermen next to them on a wharf north of Auckland, unaware they were about to become their victims.

Justice France will be remembered at the trial as the most brilliant legal mind on display.

A priest has been slammed for telling primary school children that a woman who was raped and murdered would still be alive if she had been more “faith filled”.

The fate of two men accused of burning a 21-year-old supermarket worker to death for $30,000 will be in the hands of a jury this afternoon.

A young man’s “conscience kicked in” when he and his co-defendant went to a south Auckland road to burn a body, his lawyer said.

The lawyer of a man accused of burning his friend to death says his client thought the victim was dead when the fire was lit.

A man who was burnt alive may have been lying on his back unconscious, appearing to be dead when petrol was poured on him and he was set on fire.

Week six, and the end of the Mark Lundy murder trial is only sort of nigh.

The lawyer for the man accused of burning his friend to death has suggested the victim may have been unconscious when the fire started - appearing to be dead.

Days after allegedly burning their friend to death, one man told his co-accused keeping their stories straight was 'the only way we'll be saved', a court has heard.

The man accused of burning his friend to death sent him a text message a week after, saying whoever committed the murder "deserves to be in jail for good".

Two Auckland men accused of burning a 21-year-old man to death over his life savings used nearly $25,000 within 48 hours of the alleged murder, a court has heard.

Coral-Ellen Burrows should be planning a party. Instead, her family will gather at her graveside. Her life was cut short in a crime that brought New Zealand to a standstill.

EXCLUSIVE: A cop was assaulted by an aggressive remand prisoner being housed at a police station because of a spike in inmate numbers.

An Auckland man accused of burning his friend to death over his life savings allegedly spent some of the cash on souping up his car just hours after the murder.

Two men, accused of burning a 21-year-old to death for his life savings, got tattoos together only days afterwards and were in good spirits, a court has heard.

The father of an Auckland man allegedly burned alive for his life savings has spoken of the frantic search for his son on the night of his death.

Only days after allegedly burning his friend to death for his life savings, an Auckland man used the money to pay off his court fines.

A police officer has suffered injuries to his entire body after a man assaulted the officer then set his dog on him outside a Winz office.

Moscow police were yesterday hunting for the killers of Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition politician who was gunned down in the shadow of the Kremlin's towers yesterday.