Tisha Lowry was buried yesterday. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Tisha Lowry was buried yesterday. Photo / Herald on Sunday

They were two grieving families, on two different islands. But yesterday afternoon, they were tied together by the alleged brutality of one man and the "house of horrors" under which their bodies were found.

In Taupo yesterday afternoon, a memorial service for 35-year-old Rebecca Chamberlain was held at the same church where she married the man now charged with her murder.

In Christchurch at a private tangi, the family of Tisha Lowry prayed that some change for good might come out of the 28-year-old's tragic death.

And 30km away, the man charged with both women's murders was behind bars in Christchurch's Paparua Prison. As Jason Paul Somerville, 33, awaits a psychiatric assessment, police are building up their case against him, and investigating whether there are connections to any other missing or slain women.

Somerville was yesterday described by the couple's Taupo church leader, Keith Herrington, as "just a little different".

"What I'd say about Jason is that he was very loving towards Rebecca. Even though he was different in some ways, this came as a shock."

In death, family members have given Rebecca back her maiden name, Chamberlain, to distance her from the husband accused of killing her.

A friend of the couple said she thought Jason wasn't aware of the magnitude of his alleged crimes.

The deaths had made her consider what might have happened if the married couple had not moved to Christchurch in 2006: "I've been thinking that if Jason had stayed here, would it have been me that was killed?"

Friends and family recalled Chamberlain as a woman who loved singing, worship and was learning to play the guitar and make jewellery.

She and Somerville, parishioners of the church, had been married there on March 1, 2003.

Herrington said after the memorial service that the reaction of the parish to the murder was disbelief. "It was initially just numb shock. Lots of people have been saying 'Have you seen the signs that this could happen?' And I can honestly say that we didn't."

The couple attended Linwood Baptist Church in Christchurch after moving to the city to turn their lives around.

Social worker Allison Read, who had helped Chamberlain care for her three children, said that while the deceased faced challenges, she was committed to being a mother: "She had huge issues with old habits and her parenting skills, but her mother's heart was always strong."

The service at Taupo Baptist Church was attended by more than 250 people, remembering a woman and mother who had struggled, but had finally turned a corner in her life before it was cut short.