The sister of murdered mum Carmen Thomas has broken her silence as new information emerges about the police inquiry.

A wide cross-section of the Feilding community turned out for a candlelit service tonight in response to recent tragic deaths, and to celebrate the town's strength of spirit.

Police hunting for the killer of Carmen Thomas returned to a stretch of rural road in southeast Auckland yesterday to search for clues.

Jennifer Hudson's brother-in-law William Balfour has been granted a continuance in his trial for murder and home invasion charges, following the killing of the singer's mother, brother and nephew.

Convicted double murderer John Barlow said 15 years in prison was "like going into retirement" and hasn't changed him a bit, as he walked free from Rimutaka Prison this morning.

Police investigating the disappearance of Carmen Thomas say they are closer to catching her killer and Facebook yesterday produced a new clue.

The bodies of two men and a woman found dead in a house on the outskirts of Feilding yesterday were removed from the building tonight.

A heavily bleeding shot man managed to escape to the doorstep of a stranger, who tended to him inside his home despite advice not to.

This week's deaths are the latest in Feilding's winter of horror, but a local leader says the tragedies will only make the community stronger.

Three people killed in an apparent murder-suicide near Feilding may have lain dead for more than two days before being found.

The family of missing woman Carmen Thomas says innocent lives may be at stake as long as her killer is free.

A farmhouse in Feilding has been cordoned off and a scene examination would be carried out over the coming days.

A mother has been found guilty of the manslaughter of her 13-month-old baby son after she left him in a deep bath for at least 15 minutes and he toppled over and drowned.

Police are continuing to investigate the deaths of two men and a woman whose bodies were found in a house on the outskirts of Feilding today.