Three appear in court over fire death

Two months after an Upper Hutt great-grandmother died in a house fire, three people have appeared in court charged with her murder.

Richard Steven Pearce, 21, Nicholas Andrew Edgarton, 20, and a 57-year-old Upper Hutt woman appeared in Upper Hutt District Court and were remanded to reappear on November 9.

The woman was given interim name suppression by Judge Jill Moss who said that would be reviewed on November 9, along with a police request for a mental health assessment.

Joan Elizabeth Betti, 71, died in the September 3 house fire, which police did not initially believe to be suspicious.

Other members of Mrs Betti's family were also in the house but were able to escape.

Mrs Betti died of smoke inhalation.

- NZPA