A man who strangled his Thai sex worker girlfriend was today sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 11 years.

Police have found the gun believed to have been used to shoot a man in the face in Rotorua yesterday.

The American stepmother of a disabled girl from Australia has been charged with murder.

A man accused of murdering a Tauranga mother, who died trying to save her daughter, can now be named after a court imposed suppression order lapsed.

A witness testifying in the trial of a man accused of trying to kill a police officer said the defendant also opened fire on him while the officer screamed in agony nearby.

Police in Rotorua are looking for a gun used to shoot a man in the face this morning after what is thought to have been an argument with another man.

A man shot during an armed confrontation on an Auckland motorway early in 2009 says he's been made to feel like a witness rather than a victim.

A 59-year-old woman was killed yesterday while trying to protect her daughter from a flash of violence that also left two others injured.

Police have launched a homicide investigation after a woman was killed in Tauranga this morning.

Police are yet to make any arrests after Matthew Hall, 35, was found stabbed to death in his bed at his Johnsonville home but they hope CCTV images of Mr Hall on the night he was killed might lead to information from the public.

Police are looking for witnesses after a 35-year-old man was stabbed in the neck in Hastings last night.

Five men have been jailed for a brutal attack on the owner of an Auckland kebab store - organised by an employee who wanted to take over his business.

Father of two Richard Neville is suing police for gross negligence and mental trauma after he was caught up in a bungled shootout on Auckland's northwestern motorway.

Police are looking for a large knife with a serrated edge, believed to have been used in the brutal fatal attack on Wellington man Matthew John Hall.