“I heard swearing and carrying on this morning, but they have been quiet since,” a neighbour told the Herald that day. “I don’t know what has gone down, but it looks pretty serious.”
Waitematā CIB Detective Senior Sergeant Megan Goldie initially described the death as unexplained but the inquiries quickly shifted to a homicide investigation and Chapman was arrested four days later.
Goldie said after Chapman’s arrest that police were not seeking anyone else in connection with the investigation.
Chapman had been set to go to trial next month for murder.
Justice Fitzgerald vacated the trial date today.
Both manslaughter and murder carry maximum sentences of life imprisonment, although murder carries a mandatory life term with a minimum period of imprisonment of at least 10 years unless a judge finds such a sentence to be manifestly unjust.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
