Rotorua assault: Third victim dies, 52yo man faces three murder charges

A third person has died after a violent incident in Rotorua.

A man and his wife were seriously assaulted at their home on Russell Cres on September 23.

The man’s wife died last Saturday, and the man died in hospital yesterday.

Another woman’s dead body was found about 5km away on Old Taupō Rd the same day, in an incident police believed was linked.

A 52-year-old man was earlier arrested and charged with murder. He is now facing three murder charges, police said.

He has been remanded in custody and is due to reappear in the Rotorua High Court next Friday.

Police said they were not seeking anybody else.

‘She didn’t deserve to die that way’

A neighbour of the woman found dead at an Old Taupō Rd flat said she had been told by police she died a “terrible violent death”.

A neighbour on Old Taupō Rd, who didn’t want to be named, said she got to know the dead woman from chats across the fence over the past two years.

Police at an Old Taupō Rd address in Rotorua on Wednesday where a woman was found dead on Monday, sparking a homicide investigation. Photo / Ben Fraser

She said they would chat often. One topic of conversation would be how she would have her windows and curtains wide open day and night.

“I would say to her ‘Gosh don’t do that around here, you need to be careful with break-ins and whatnot’,” the woman said.

She said she told police she found it strange when she woke on the previous Thursday morning and looked over to the woman’s house and noticed for the first time the windows were closed and curtains were pulled. She said it crossed her mind that she must have had someone staying as it was out of character.

She said police had talked to all the neighbours and while they had not revealed any details of how or why the woman was killed, she said police told her she had “died a terrible violent death”.

“I said ‘She did not deserve to die that way’.”

‘A horrible thing’

A Russell Cres resident previously told the Rotorua Daily Post the retired couple assaulted in their home were in their 70s and belonged to a church.

The resident had given police his CCTV footage from his driveway.

Police at the Russell Cres address in Rotorua where two people suffered critical injuries in an assault on September 23, believed to be connected to a woman's death at a separate address. Photo / Ben Fraser

“I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I’ve asked the cops what’s happened, but it’s all hush-hush.”

Another neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said it was a “horrible horrible thing”.

“Getting my mind around it is hard ... I feel so bad, they are a lovely couple and the fact they got hurt in this way is so hard to take.”

Neighbours spoken to by the Rotorua Daily Post were in shock at what had happened.

Police investigate a Russell Cres address in Rotorua where two people suffered critical injuries in an assault believed to be connected to a woman's death at a separate address. Photo / Ben Fraser

The elderly man and woman knew the husband and wife well and had been their neighbours for three years. They described them as a retired professional couple who had previously been business owners.

The elderly man said at the time the couple were on life support and family were travelling from Australia.

The elderly woman described them as a “beautiful, caring couple”.

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