Knife marks death scene

By Nick Perry

A man was seen thumping walls and shouting that he wanted $350 owing to him an hour before Janet Pike was stabbed to death at the Henderson ACC office where she worked yesterday.

Stunned and distraught workmates were taken in a van to a nearby police station to try to piece together the horrific events leading to the death of their friend yesterday afternoon.

A 30cm carving knife, its tip reddened with blood, lay in the carpark until forensic experts arrived.

Witnesses saw a tall, solidly built and casually dressed Maori man in an agitated state at the entrance to an office immediately next to the public area inside the Lincoln Rd building.

A blond woman inside the office, who looked scared, could be heard shouting that she would call the police, to which the man replied, "You will be six feet under before that happens."

An ACC client, who wanted to be identified only as Tim, said he was in the building about 12.30 pm with his friend Pat when they witnessed the row.

He said the man was pushing the glass window in the woman's office so hard he thought it would break.

"He was shouting that they owed him $350, and he wasn't going to leave until he got paid. He was a big fellow, a pretty aggro dude."

Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Ardern, of the Henderson police, said Mrs Pike was stabbed in the chest in a room separated from the public area. None of the 40 staff in the office saw the stabbing.

Staff chased a man into a carpark next to the building, where he was caught by police shortly afterwards.

ACC spokesman Iwan Williams said the tragedy came as a great shock to the corporation. Mrs Pike had worked for ACC for three years and had been very popular with staff. ACC was offering staff counselling.

Mrs Pike and her husband, Stephen, immigrated from England 31/2 years ago. Mr Pike started training to be a policeman in Porirua just a few weeks ago.

The couple had no family in New Zealand, but friends were rallying around Mr Pike at the couple's Glen Eden home last night. He was in a state of shock and unable to talk to the media.

The chief executive of The Warehouse, Stephen Tindall, said two staff of the Lincoln Rd branch, next to the ACC office, were receiving counselling after selling a man a kitchen knife yesterday.

Mr Tindall said the man had gone in asking for a knife, and a staff member had tried to be helpful by showing him a selection of kitchenware. Police had questioned the two staff.

Two central-heating contractors, who had been called to a job above the ACC office, said they had been having lunch at a nearby McDonald's when they noticed a casually dressed man eating there.

The three men left McDonald's about the same time, and entered the ACC offices together. About 10 minutes later the contractors heard ambulance sirens.

Mr Williams said ACC staff were trained how to avoid or diffuse potentially threatening situations. It could minimise the risk of incidents occurring, but could not eliminate the possibility.

A 35-year-old man was charged last night with the murder of Mrs Pike. He will appear in the Waitakere District Court today.