Murder in Massey: Police had alleged killer in custody just eight minutes after fatal stabbing

A woman stabbed to death on Westgate Dr, Massey, was earlier seen pacing the footpath and looking up and down the street. Photo / Dean Purcell

It took just eight minutes for police to apprehend a man after he allegedly breached a protection order and stabbed his ex-partner to death in a West Auckland street on Monday.

Details of the apprehension will not be released by police as the man is now before the courts on a murder charge.

But they confirmed today that from the time of the first 111 call to the time the man was taken into custody just eight minutes passed.

The woman was allegedly stabbed multiple times on Westgate Dr in Massey just after 8.30am on Monday.

Several members of the public tried to intervene and administer CPR but she died at the scene as her attacker fled in a vehicle.

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He was captured by police nearby after another member of the public rammed his car into the alleged offender's and stopped him escaping.

Alongside the murder charge, the man is also accused of breaching a protection order that was in place to keep him away from the woman.

He was granted interim name suppression when he appeared in the Waitakere District Court yesterday.

This means the Herald cannot name the victim.

Police are still in the process of notifying her next of kin of her violent death.

It is understood many of her family live outside New Zealand.

Detectives investigating the alleged murder are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

They have spoken to a number of people who were at the scene or close to it - but are calling on anyone who may have been in the area and hold dashcam footage to contact them as they try to build a clearer picture of what happened.

They would not be drawn on where the victim and alleged offender had been before the incident, or how they came to be in contact on Westgate Dr.

The Herald understands she may have been waiting at a bus stop when her ex-partner confronted her.

A man who lives in the area said he was eating breakfast and recalled looking out to see a woman at a bus stop, pacing the footpath as if she was running late.

There was a look in her eyes that made him distinctly remember her.

He said she was alone and looked "desperate''.

"She kept looking up and down [the street]," he told the Herald.

As she paced the footpath, on Westgate Dr in Massey, West Auckland, he got the impression she was running late or had missed her bus.

It was just after 8am and he guessed she was probably waiting for a bus due to stop there about 8.20am.

He vaguely remembered her wearing a coat and pants.

Bunches of flowers have been laid near the spot where the woman died.

People from all parts of the community - young and old and from different backgrounds - stopped to pay their respects.

There has been no word on whether any public vigil or memorial will be held in the community.

Can you help? Contact Police on 105 or anonymously on Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111.