Bloodied man seen leaving Carmen's house

Emergency services delve for murder clues. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A man with bloodstained clothing was seen leaving the home of murdered mum Carmen Thomas two days after she was last seen alive.

The Herald on Sunday has been told that the man told the eyewitness the blood had come from Thomas, who had vomited because she was sick after chemotherapy.

The witness is one of many people spoken to by detectives in the 12-week police investigation into her murder, a group that now includes those closest to accused murderer Brad Callaghan.

Callaghan - escort Thomas' former partner and the father of her son Jack, 5 - appeared in court last Tuesday charged with killing her on June 29.

Thomas was reported missing on July 13 and her car was found in Hamilton. It had blood inside which police said suggested she had been murdered.

Police inquiries were aimed at establishing whether further charges were to be laid against another man for his involvement in disposing of her body.

The Herald on Sunday understands that Callaghan's fiancee Tanith Butler, who is eight months pregnant with his child, has been interviewed by detectives.

Until last week the couple - and Jack - were a family unit. They and Jack shared the Remuera home now being searched by police.

Callaghan was now in custody awaiting trial. Butler has had to move out to make way for searching police. Jack was believed to be in the care of relatives.

It is understood that late last month Butler finished work to take time off before her and Callaghan's child was born. Until then, Butler worked for Auckland City events centre The Edge.

Since leaving, Butler has been collecting Jack from school while Callaghan worked at construction company Manson TCLM.

Detectives and forensic experts yesterday continued to search one of two Manson construction sites that had become a focus of the inquiry.

More items were removed from the central Auckland building site on Victoria St where searchers were lowered down a deep hole strengthened by a steel sleeve.

Items were also removed in bags as police excavated deeper into the hole.

Manson's director Culum Manson said the company was continuing to assist police and co-operating in "all possible ways".

"Everyone at Mansons is shocked by the events surrounding the police investigation and our thoughts and sympathies are with little Jack and the family of Carmen Thomas," Manson said.

In another part of Auckland, police seized a boat belonging to a friend of Callaghan for testing and cordoned off an area to search the man's house.

The man, who has name suppression, was not under arrest. Police hired professional cleaners to clean his house - it is understood to disguise any sign of where their attention had been focused.

In an interview with the Herald on Sunday a month ago, the man said it was his boat and he had owned it for a year.

He said he had been interviewed a number of times by police "just to confirm I hadn't seen her".

Carmen Thomas timeline

June 27: Last confirmed sighting of Thomas, at Greenlane Countdown about 7.10pm. Last day her bank accounts were touched.

June 28: Message sent from her Facebook account at 8.14pm.

July 1: Police have been seeking CCTV footage from central Auckland around this date.

July 3: Text sent from her phone to her boss at a Pakuranga men's club.

July 7 or 8: It is believed Thomas' car was driven from Auckland to Hamilton.

July 13: Car towed and Thomas is reported missing after failing to collect her son.

Sept 1: Thomas' wheelie bin is found by police.

Sept 20: Police put a camera down a hole at a worksite on Victoria St in the Auckland central business district.

Sept 21: Thomas' ex-partner Brad Callaghan is charged with her murder. Police begin searching Callaghan's home.

Sept 23: Police begin searching an East Auckland property where one of Callaghan's friends lives. They seize a boat, believed to have been used in a failed attempt to dispose of Thomas' body, for forensic testing.