Post mortem to explain Feilding deaths

File photo / Mark Mitchell

Police are investigating the deaths of two men and a woman whose bodies were found in a house on the outskirts of Feilding today.

Police were contacted by a visitor to the house about 10.20am and arrived to find the bodies of an elderly man and a middle-aged couple in the Lees Road house, police spokeswoman Kim Perks said.

The house has been cordoned off and a scene examination would be carried out over the coming days.

Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Sheridan said that police were not looking for anyone else.

"It is still early days so we have to keep an open mind, but following an initial assessment we do not believe that we are looking for anyone else in relation to these deaths," Mr Sheridan said.

"The examination of the scene is likely to take some days and we will not be making any comment or speculating on cause of death until post mortem examinations have been carried out.

"I understand that the Feilding community will be very upset, but I would like to assure them that whilst this is a tragedy I am confident that there is no risk to the community," Mr Sheridan said.

Mr Sheridan described the deaths as "unexplained".

Police said they would not release any more details about the three people until they have been formally identified.

A resident living about 500 metres from the lifestyle block where the incident took place said the residents had only been there for a few months.

He said the road outside had been busy but he had not seen any sign of police activity.

A woman who lives opposite the property said she saw a two police cars parked outside property but no other activity. She said the people who living there had only moved in recently.

Deaths the latest in a series of horrific incidents to shake Feilding

On July 8, Scott Guy was shot dead in the driveway of his Aorangi Rd farm as he went to milk his cows. His killer has not been found, and police are now focusing on the theft of three chocolate Labrador puppies from the property. Mr Guy's wife, Kylee, has pleaded for the killer to come forward and says that the couple's young son, Hunter, still asks about the whereabouts of his father.

On July 27, a Cessna 152 plane crashed into a Feilding paddock, killing instructor Jessica Nelson and her student Patricia Stallman.

On August 4, Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell was killed while on active duty with the New Zealand Army in Afghanistan. The Feilding man was the first New Zealand soldier to be killed in combat since 2000.

There are connections between these three tragedies. Lieutenant O'Donnell's older brother Andrew worked at the farm where Mr Guy was killed. The plane that carried Ms Nelson and Mrs Stallman to their deaths was leased by the Guy family.

The Herald on Sunday reported that four Feilding residents awaiting court proceedings were believed to have killed themselves while awaiting trial or sentencing in the past three months, casting a further pall over the town.

- NZ HERALD STAFF, NZPA