The house where Karen White was found dead. Photo: Tess Brunton
A neighbour has described hearing screams from the daughter of a woman found dead at her Lake Hāwea house, as people in the picturesque township near Wanaka urge police to find her killer.
Detectives were back at the property on Wednesday, looking for clues in their homicide investigation into Invercargill woman Karen Gaylene White's death on 8 March, from injuries sustained in a significant assault.
The neighbour, who did not want to be identified, told RNZ she heard a woman screaming like she was being attacked, so her husband went to investigate.
The couple was later told that the screams came from the shocked woman's daughter who had discovered her mother's body upstairs. The neighbour had not heard any arguments.
Death was not unheard of in the community, but no-one suspected a murder in a place where people might not lock their doors and generations of families had made their homes by the lake.
Other neighbours said family members did not often stay at the house and kept to themselves, but were rowdy when they did, playing loud music and riding motorcycles.
Police were examining the Lake Hāwea property this week. Photo: NZ Police
Police announced they had launched a homicide investigation into White's death on 22 November, almost nine months after she was killed.
On Thursday Detective Senior Sergeant Regan Boucher said police were following positive lines of inquiry.
"We have confirmed the 60-year-old victim died as a result of injuries she sustained in a significant assault, and are speaking to a number of people who are assisting with enquiries," Boucher said.
"Police believe people in the community hold important information about Mrs White's murder and we encourage those people to come forward."
Police had examined the Lake Hāwea property with scientists from the ESR but would not reveal further details about their investigation or what was found.
Last month police said it was an " extremely traumatic time for a family who have lost a daughter, mother, grandmother, wife and friend".
Permanent residents expect an influx of holidaymakers soon and the township's population would swell again over summer. Photo: Tess Brunton
They wanted to speak to anyone who saw any unusual or suspicious activity in the Lake Hāwea area around late February and early March, while reassuring the community they should feel safe.
White's neighbour was surprised police believed people in the community held key information, with the township's collection of cribs and permanent residents who often did not mix.
"I cannot believe that that's true because hardly anyone in the community knows them, not in this area of the community," she said.
"That was a really surprising statement. We're all thinking who in the community knows anything more than hearsay."
Other Lake Hāwea residents spoken to by RNZ said they had only questions, rather than answers about White's death, and were surprised police believed someone among them knew more.
They also wanted to know why police took so long to launch a homicide investigation.
A police spokesperson said White's death was initially treated as unexplained while officers worked to establish what had happened before her death.
But once that picture became clearer, it led police to believe she died in suspicious circumstances.
Lake Hāwea was quiet when RNZ visited this week, although permanent residents said families would soon return to summer cribs and the township's population would swell again.
In some streets cribs outnumbered permanent residents, while others had been neighbours for years, checking in on each other and popping over to catch up.
RNZ was invited into one of the homes for a cup of tea and a chat by a long-term resident who said they tended to know everyone by face, if not by name, but that was difficult as more subdivisions opened up and the summer holiday-makers returned.
They were still coming to terms with what had happened and hoped police would solve the case soon.
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