By AINSLEY THOMSON and NZPA
Police have arrested a 21-year-old man for the murder of Lower Hutt woman Kate Alkema.
He will appear in the Lower Hutt District Court today.
Mrs Alkema, 36, was killed while walking along the banks of the Hutt River on Saturday April 13, the same day baby
Kahu Durie was kidnapped in Lower Hutt by a masked gunman.
Mrs Alkema's body was found by a family member who was part of a search party, it had been dumped among willows about 400m south of the Melling Bridge.
Her family had raised the alarm after she failed to return home from her walk to cook lunch.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Oxnam, head of Operation Melling, said while the arrest was a relief in some ways for Ms Alkema's family it did little to alleviate their pain.
Mr Oxnam thanked the public and media for their overwhelming support and response to appeals for information. "Public assistance combined with a dedicated police team has led to this arrest.
"Lower Hutt has been in the spotlight since Kate's death and the kidnapping of Kahu Durie. Its great for police morale and will also be a huge relief to the public that we've results for both cases in the same week."
More than 100 staff have been involved in the inquiry which has at times been boosted by an additional 80 recruits from the Royal New Zealand Police College who assisted with area inquiries, searches and guarding scenes. Mr Oxnam said the arrest does not signal an end to inquiry work as a range of background and forensic work needs to be completed.
