Katie Powles. Photo / Supplied
The wife of a man who drove head-on into two other vehicles killing newlywed Katie Powles says her husband would "never hurt anybody".
Lyn Worrell, who is still married to but separated from Tony Worrell, said reports her husband was suicidal and the couple had argued before the
fatal collision had been "significantly misleading".
Mr Worrell, a 51-year-old unemployed man from Swanson, is conscious and recovering in Auckland Hospital from a head injury after the car he was driving ploughed into two oncoming vehicles at Karaka on June 3.
The collision killed Ms Powles and badly injured Brett Robinson who was in another car with his two sons returning from soccer practice.
Mrs Worrell said: "Tony would never hurt anybody and I still believe that to be the case."
Despite this belief, Mrs Worrell said her husband, an alcoholic who allegedly bought liquor on three separate occasions from the same bottle store on the day of the crash, had made suicidal remarks in the past.
She said he commented that he was "looking for a semi [truck]" which Mrs Worrell thought was a flippant comment to gain sympathy from her.
"I had told my husband that it wasn't a good idea for him to leave in the condition he was in because I thought he was intoxicated but how and to what degree I was not sure."
She said her husband had asked if she had packed his insulin before he left.
"He was going north to get a job on a fishing boat which seems inconsistent with a suicidal intention."
Detective Inspector Mark Gutry of Counties Manukau Police, said witness interviews and an examination of the vehicles had been completed.
He said police were still investigating the matter as a homicide.
