Woman charged with murder after buried body discovered
A woman has been charged with murder after the discovery of a man’s body buried in the backyard of a Christchurch property.
Police said they were alerted to the body, at a house in Main North Rd, Papanui, at 9.44am yesterday.
A 55-year-old woman has been charged with murder, a police spokesperson said. She is due to appear in the Christchurch District Court today.
Stuff understands the dead man is the owner of the property – Martin Orme Berry, 55, a storeman. It is believed he may have been dead for weeks and police want to hear from anybody who has had contact with or visited the occupants of 139a Main North Rd since Christmas Day.
An autopsy and formal identification process were to be carried out today.
A scene examination will continue for several days and a scene guard will remain at the property while this occurs.
It is understood a woman contacted police and told them about the body.
The 1100-square-metre property is down a long driveway bounded by thick undergrowth and is next to a school.
Two women, Berry’s mother and sister, are listed on the 2020 electoral roll as living at the address but do not live there and were not involved in the homicide.
Police said they believed Berry’s death was an ‘‘isolated incident’’.
‘‘We want to reassure members of the public that there are no general safety concerns for the wider Papanui community.’’
Residents said Berry appeared to live in the threebedroom home, which he bought in 2002, with a woman who they believed was his partner.
A nearby resident said she knew the couple and used to see
Berry walking his dog but had not seen him for about a month.
The neighbour said she last saw the woman just before Christmas when she randomly visited to tell her she had stopped drinking alcohol and was taking a medication that would make her ‘‘very sick’’ if she drank again.
The woman apologised for ‘‘the trouble’’ that had happened in the past, the neighbour said.
‘‘But that was a good way back ... about the middle of the year. When the police cars used to arrive – and there were quite a lot of police cars that used to come – it would take more than one lot of police to stop whatever was going on over there.’’