Upper Hutt axe murder: Vehicle sightings part of investigation

Detective Inspector Darrin Thomson said police are making excellent progress piecing together the events leading up this tragic event. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A missing jacket and sightings of a vehicle are part of the focus by police investigating the axe murder of a woman and the wounding of three other people in Upper Hutt last week.

The violent axe attack happened last Thursday night in the suburb of Timberlea.

The vehicle was a 1999 silver Subaru Legacy sedan, registration BTF858, which investigators were seeking sightings of between 5pm and 9pm on the day of the attack, Detective Inspector Darrin Thomson said.

The jacket was a black Kathmandu puffer style jacket, which might have been discarded in the Blueberry Grove and Norana Road area in Timberlea.

"We are making excellent progress piecing together the events leading up this tragic event and I want to thank all those that have come forward so far to provide information," Mr Thomson said.

The 55-year-old woman, her 20-year-old son and her friend were attacked in their Blueberry Grove home and another 24-year-old man was attacked at his property nearby.

Both men were hospitalised suffering serious injuries, but have since been discharged, police said.

The woman suffered moderate injuries.

Upper Hutt man Retimana Te Korou Nicholls, 36, appeared in Hutt Valley District Court last week charged with murder, grievous bodily harm, wounding and assault.

He was remanded in custody to appear in the High Court next month.

Following the attack friends of the woman who was killed spoke about her presence in the community.

One friend, who did not want to be named, said she and others who knew the woman believed she would have done anything she could to protect her son from the attack.

"She was very protective of her son."

The community was "in mourning" over the death, she said.

"[The woman] was very supportive of the community, and the stuff she did in the community were the acts of someone who wanted to be a part of something that would have a huge effect on the community."

A Timberlea man, who also did not wish to be named, said she "would give her heart to anything".

"If you asked her to do something she'd be there to do it that's the sort of person she was."

Police have not released any motive for the attack, but had said it was not random, with the alleged attacker knowing the mother, her son and the other young man.

Police asked anyone with any information to phone 04 381 2000 and ask for the Operation Wood investigation team, or anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.