Horror house victims buried

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.

Chamberlain's three children were also there: Child, Youth and Family had placed them in the care of Taupo church families three years ago.

Clayton Chamberlain, Rebecca's father, said he felt he had lost his daughter some years ago - but she had recently returned: "She went away from the Lord for a few years. I call her my prodigal daughter, because she came back."

He also spoke of a visit this week to the house where her body was found to pick up photographs and personal items. "It was the hardest day of my life," he said.

Chamberlain's ashes were committed to Taupo Cemetery in a private ceremony later in the afternoon.

Meanwhile in Christchurch, about 200 friends and family sobbed quietly as they gathered to pay their final respects to Tisha Lowry, who had disappeared a year earlier, before her burial service in the suburb of Bromley.

Lowry's body was found with Chamberlain's under the Somerville home in Hampshire St, Aranui, this month.

At the Maori funeral ceremony, friends spoke about their love for "our Tisha", who had been taken too soon.

One man spoke about the need to turn Lowry's death into something positive.

"Grandparents should not be burying their grandchildren and parents should not be burying their children," he said. "The world needs to change. Tisha's death - I hope something good comes out of it."

The ceremony included Maori songs and blessings and ended with the Lord's Prayer. Lowry's coffin, covered in pink roses, was carried out to For Today by Kiwi band Netherworld Dancing Toys.

Mother Tanya Lowry was flanked by family members, who supported her throughout the service.

Tisha's grandmother said it was a relief to be laying her granddaughter to rest: "It's just great to have final closure."

A group of young men performed a haka as the coffin was lowered into the ground.