Otorohanga manhunt: "Bring it to an end"

A manhunt continues following an attack that left an Otorohanga woman dead and her husband in hospital. Photo: Alan Gibson

"Bring it to an end."

That's the appeal to Ross Douglas Bremner, the subject of a police manhunt, by a friend and neighbour of his slain mother and critically-wounded father.

As police scour the Otorohanga area for the 34-year-old, Keith and Clare Bremner's neighbour of 12 years Ellyn Macpherson paid tribute to the couple and joined calls for their son to come forward.

The south Waikato town has been rocked by the attack, at the Bremners' Cruden Ave home, that left 60-year-old Clare Bremner dead and 64-year-old Keith Bremner in Waikato Hospital in a critical condition.

Macpherson this afternoon told the Herald she wanted the search over as soon as possible.

"Bring it to an end - it's got to stop," was her message to Ross Bremner.

"It has to reach a conclusion, especially for the family - they have two daughters who will want answers and want some closure to it, too."

Macpherson said her thoughts were with the Bremner family, which the tight-knit Otorohanga community had rallied around.

"They'd all be going through absolute living hell, this is the worst nightmare.

"I mean, mum's gone forever, she's nearly 60 years old, getting into all the grandma stuff... that's just kind of cruel."

She described the couple as "second parents" - Keith Bremner was famous for his jokes, while Clare, who up until a year ago worked with children with special needs, had a "real heart of gold".

Both were heavily involved in the community and could be seen at local get-togethers.

"There was never a bad word said about them and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who would say they were bad people."

Macpherson expressed disbelief at the police tape that remained hung across the driveway.

"Like I said to one of the police officers, this is something you see in south Los Angeles, you don't see it in Otorohanga."

Today, a scene examination of the house was continuing.

A post-mortem examination of Clare Bremner, whose body was removed from the property yesterday, was expected to commence in Auckland today.

In a statement released this morning, Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Patterson said the search remained concentrated on Otorohanga, and urged anyone who saw Bremner to contact police immediately.

Local residents could also expect to see armed offenders squad members, who had already searched a number of properties for Bremner.

NZME has confirmed Bremner was being treated by mental health and addiction services at the time of the attacks, and last had a period of inpatient care in 2013.

He had been living in the community for the last three years.

"He is a person of interest in our inquiry," Patterson said.

"We would appreciate any information on the whereabouts of Ross Bremner."
Police also appealed for sightings of a 2003 model Holden Vectra, registration BGP561, which Bremner may have used.