New Zealand / Wellington Region

Fresh charges laid against Karori murder accused

12:50 pm on 30 April 2019

The man accused of murdering a woman at her suburban Wellington home has now also been charged with sexually violating her daughter.

The 30-year-old, who has interim name suppression, appeared in the High Court in the capital this morning on the murder charge.

Nine fresh charges were also laid against him in the Wellington District Court.

They included two charges of sexually violating a 12-year-old girl and recklessly impeding her breathing, and a charge of indecently assaulting a woman aged over 16.

The girl was found alongside her mother's body in their Karori home.

She had suffered serious injuries and the accused man has now been charged with wounding her with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He is also accused of burgling a house in Karori while armed with a steel mallet.

At his High Court appearance on Tuesday Justice Simon France suppressed the name of the dead woman and the child.

He remanded the accused to reappear in the High Court in June on all charges.