Man charged with murder

Crime of passion at Auckland apartment leaves two dead

An Iraqi man has been charged with two counts of murder after two bodies were found in an Auckland city apartment complex yesterday.

Inspector Gary Hill tonight said the man had also been charged with aggravated burglary.

Police also confirmed both bodies were male after initially identifying the gender of only one. However, no names were released.

A post-mortem examination had been carried out on one victim, and one would be performed on the second victim tomorrow.

Yesterday's double killing in a central Auckland apartment building is understood to be a crime of passion.

Sources said a 30-year-old Iraqi man walked in on "something he shouldn't" yesterday morning which led to a 2½ hour standoff with police.

Residents were last night worried that the building's male manager, aged in his 50s, was one of the victims of the stabbings. A blue incident tent has been erected at the door of the manager's first floor apartment where police broke in with a battering ram and found the bodies just after 10am yesterday. The bodies are expected to be removed from the building today for post-mortem examination.

Police were called to the 14-storey Alpha Apartments in Vogel Lane, a street in the shadow of the Sky Tower, by a member of the public who saw a man crouching on an 11th floor balcony holding a large knife to his own throat.

The Armed Offenders Squad was then called as the man threatened to stab himself and jump. A police negotiator coaxed him into surrendering at 1.40pm, and he was escorted handcuffed from the building by police.

Police say one of the victims was male but would not confirm the gender of the other victim.

Residents of the apartments reported hearing arguing, screams and banging coming from the 11th floor flat shortly before 10am.

A woman in that flat, who was known to the Iraqi man, was unharmed, police said.

Ben Greyling, who lives on the 12th floor, said he was woken about 10am by arguing coming from the apartment directly below him. He said he could hear shouting followed by a woman screaming.

"The tone of voice sounded really dramatic," Greyling said.

A short time later he looked through his keyhole and saw a woman sitting on a staircase holding her head in her hands and looking distraught. Chris Lee, who lives next door to the 11th floor apartment where the man was holed up, said he overheard an Asian woman telling police: "I do not want to stay with him."

Another resident who lives on the first floor also heard banging about 10am.

She opened her door to police about 11am and glimpsed inside the building manager's apartment directly opposite.

"The door was broken. It was a mess," she said.

Resident Sarah Robinson, who lives on the ninth floor, said Alpha Apartments was normally a quiet building, but yesterday morning it was "very noisy".

"I thought it was drunk people having a good time, yelling and screaming.

"The noise carried. It was like a movie scene."

She said most of the residents were foreigners, but there was a mixture of apartment owners and tenants. The building, which has 114 apartments, was built in 2004.

Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott said it was not clear what connection the Iraqi man had with the deceased but sources told the Sunday Star-Times one was a partner or former partner.

The alleged assailant was not a resident of Alpha Apartments, but police said he knew a woman who lived on the 11th floor.

"I don't want to say too much, but at this stage we don't believe it's a random event," said Scott.

"While I believe this was a domestic-related incident, there was a chain of events that resulted in a double tragedy," he said. Police are not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident.

The man has been charged with possession of an offensive weapon and will appear in the Auckland District Court tomorrow. More charges were likely. 

With NZPA

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