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The Napier man believed to have shot dead his partner before turning the gun on himself has been described by his friends and family as a "great hunter and gatherer" and "a bit of a ladies' man".
Police were called to Napier's Harold Holt Ave at 12.25am yesterday
after reports of gunshots. Police found the body of 39-year-old Annette Pollock, who had sustained gunshot wounds, on the footpath outside the address. Nearby lay a badly injured man, Tomoana freezing worker Stephen Webby, 61, who also had gunshot wounds.
Webby was rushed to hospital but later died.
Police have launched a homicide investigation. Detective Senior Sergeant Tony Dewhirst from the Napier CIB said police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the shooting but were keen to hear from anyone with information.
Neighbour Diane MacFarlane was watching television when she heard three gunshots.
"There were three loud explosions that made me shake because it sounded like it was outside my window."
MacFarlane, 49, had run to wake her partner Kevin Coates, who had gone outside with a torch.
"He was screaming at me to get back inside and stay inside. He grabbed the phone and was talking to the operator and said, 'There's been a shooting', because he could see a guy slumped against a fence with a gun."
MacFarlane said it appeared Webby had shot Pollock twice and then shot himself. "I don't know why it's happened out here, unless they've just pulled over having a domestic."
Police cordoned off the area, including a 4WD cruiser which MacFarlane believed belonged to the victims. The homicide had left her shocked and shaken, she said.
"It's hit me and I've been weepy. "
Yesterday emergency workers washed the victims' blood from the footpath in the quiet suburban street.
Webby, nicknamed "Crayfish Dundee" by his friends, was known as an avid hunter and gatherer who loved the outdoors.
A family member described him as a "decent, hard-case bloke."
Viv Webby, who is related to Stephen Webby by marriage, said he had been in several relationships and had children to different mothers. She described him as a good-looking "ladies' man" who lived a full life.
Webby's stepmother, Phyllis Webby, described her stepson as "kind and funny". "He always remembered me on Mother's Day. He would buy me flowers."
The dead man's half-brother Dennis said he thought the woman had been Stephen Webby's partner for about a year.
He described his brother as a "bloody decent joker" and "straight as a die, honest". He had never seen him angry or violent. Webby said he saw his brother once a week. "I'm really going to miss him "