A kind-hearted woman was walking home after work. when she was allegedly fatally stabbed by a stranger who was in the care of mental health services.
Police described the broad daylight knife attack on the woman in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon as “horrible, traumatic and random”.
A 37-year-old man is scheduled to appear in court on Monday charged with her murder.
The woman, in her 50s, took a bus home after work. She had walked alone about 300 meters from her bus stop when she was allegedly stabbed by the man on the sidewalk of Cheyenne St, Sockburn around 4:20 p.m.
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peter meecham/stuff
Police block the road near the scene of a fatal stabbing attack on Cheyenne St, Sockburn, Christchurch.
Residents of the quiet suburban street helped the woman until paramedics arrived at the scene, but they were unable to save her.
The man was arrested a short time later, about 500 meters away, on Epsom Rd, after a brief search with police dogs. He was with his brother, who had arrived after the attack and had nothing to do with the crime.
Stuff understands that the alleged killer had been in the care of mental health services. It is not clear what conditions he was subjected to.
A Canterbury District Health Board spokesman and Health Minister Andrew Little declined to comment on Sunday as police investigated the matter.
The woman, who moved to New Zealand from Fiji several years ago, lived with her husband and son meters from where she was killed.
Sam Sherwood/stuff
Four police tents remained at the scene on Sunday where a woman was fatally stabbed.
Grieving members of the Moraia Fijian parish, where the woman attended, visited the Cheyenne St crime scene on Sunday afternoon.
They said that she was kind, supportive and a “lovely mother of the community” and that her death had come as a “tremendous shock”.
Sockburn residents are also struggling to deal with the senseless act of violence that has unfolded in their community.
Bouquets of flowers were left at the scene, including one left by a tearful colleague.
Epsom Rd resident Bob Alexander witnessed what is believed to be the arrest of the suspected killer.
The 74-year-old man ventured out of his house to see why there were emergency services in the area.
As he neared the end of their long shared driveway, a police officer stopped him.
“Don’t come any closer, we’ll get the dogs out,” they told him.
Alexander turned around and began to walk back to his house. He barely covered 10 m when he heard raised voices.
I turned around in time to see [a police officer] drink [a man] and throw it on the ground.
That was followed almost immediately by a chorus of dogs “going wild.”
Alexander’s driveway was later cordoned off and access was restricted until police surveyed the scene on Sunday.
He and his wife Bobbie, 71, often walk their dog on Cheyenne St.
“It’s kind of scary,” said Bobbie Alexander. “It’s a bit close to home.”
Alden Williams/Things
Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price says the attack was “horrible and random”.
On Sunday, the Canterbury District Commander, Superintendent John Price, said police knew the suspected offender but not the victim.
“This was a horrific, traumatic, random attack on an innocent person who was simply on his way home from work.”
The “senseless act” would have an “incredible impact” on the community.
Price said police were still piecing together what had happened and did not provide a motive for the attack. However, he confirmed that the suspected murder weapon had been recovered.
An examination of the scene at the Cheyenne St crime scene had been largely completed by Sunday night.
