Husband tells of last text and calls

In the hours before she died in a car crash, Katie Powles told her husband Darren about her day and sent him a text message saying she would be late home.

She spoke to him twice on June 3, 2008. The first call was about 9.30am, and they talked about her day. The second was at midday, when they talked about what Mr Powles would cook for dinner.

The couple had been married for less than four months but had been together for more than eight years.

Yesterday, a statement from Mr Powles was read to the High Court at Auckland during the trial of Tony Worrell, 50.

Worrell is accused of murdering the newlywed by deliberately crashing into her on Linwood Rd, Karaka.

He is also charged with causing Brett Robinson grievous bodily harm when he collided with him seconds before the crash with Mrs Powles.

Worrell also faces four counts of attempting to cause intentional damage relating to allegations he drove towards four vehicles without making an effort to avoid them.

Mr Powles' statement said he got a text from his wife at 1.25pm saying she would be late home. "The last call was at 2pm. She told me her performance review had gone well and she would tell me more when she got home."

The last time he saw his wife alive was the previous night. "I arrived home from work and Katie was in bed semi-asleep. We talked about her day, I kissed her good night, and told her to wake me up in the morning."

He then went downstairs to watch television.

"By the time I woke up on Tuesday morning about 9am she had done the rubbish and had gone to work."

Mr Powles said it was "out of the ordinary" for his wife to work late; she normally finished at Power Products in Manukau City at 5pm and arrived home an hour later.

He described her as "very healthy and active". The night she was killed she had been due to do taekwon-do.

Mr Powles said she knew Linwood Rd well and was a good driver.

She normally drove to work that way but usually travelled a different route home.