Four sought over murder
Lois Rita Tolley had lost 100 kilograms and was turning her life around.
‘‘She just decided she wanted to be a grown-up and find a good job that she loved,’’ her aunt Rita Cole said.
But now the 30-year-old’s family are mourning the loss of a woman who never had a bad word to say about anyone.
Tolley was found dead in her Upper Hutt home early on Saturday morning, and police are now seeking four men who were seen fleeing the house shortly before her body was discovered.
Police also confirmed yesterday they were seeking a knife and firearm in relation to the incident.
Detective Senior Sergeant Warwick McKee said the men in question were seen jogging south along Wilford St towards Ward St about midnight on Friday, shortly before the incident. One of the four was carrying a long, rectangular object.
The men, in their 20s, were all described as being about 182cm tall and wearing dark clothing with hooded tops.
They were also seen leaving the Ward St property soon after the incident, with one said to be ‘‘visibly distressed’’.
Cole said her niece loved friends, family and her cats, and ‘‘always saw the good in everybody’’.
‘‘Even those nasty people [at the centre of the investigation], she wouldn’t have had a bad thing to say about them. ‘‘She will be so sadly missed.’’ Tolley had worked hard to get her life on track in recent years after ‘‘a bit of a tough childhood’’, Cole said. She was passionate about cooking and loved her job working for a Wellington-based events management company.
She had also lost about 100kg in weight over the past three or four years as she turned her life around.
Tolley’s mother, Cathrine Tolley, flew to Wellington from Australia yesterday.
Her daughter was a kind-hearted person who ‘‘would give you the shirt off her back’’, she said. ‘‘She was the life of the party. She just made people laugh and went out of her way to help people.’’
Lorraine Duffin, another of Tolley’s aunts, said the fact her niece was able to shed so much weight despite her passion for making desserts was testament to where she was in her life.
‘‘She was happy. She was positive. She was working hard, and she was proud of herself.’’
Lifelong friend Jennifer Rose Williams said Tolley was a ‘‘rock’’ for her friends and was beginning to make a great life for herself.
‘‘She was shining, her life was just starting to come together . . . Heaven became more beautiful yesterday.’’
Tolley, the youngest of four siblings, lived alone with her two cats. She had family in New Zealand and Australia.
The investigation into her death is continuing and police confirmed yesterday that their enquiries had led to ‘‘fresh information’’.
McKee said he could not comment on whether Tolley was known to the men, but said police believed the four had gone to her address ‘‘for a purpose’’, based on witness accounts.
A cordon remained in place at the crime scene yesterday.
‘‘Let me reassure the community that we are working hard to resolve this matter,’’ McKee said. ‘‘We have a large team working on this at present to get some finality for the family of Lois.’’
McKee encouraged the four men to come forward to explain what had happened on the night of Tolley’s death.
‘‘I urge them to come forward and take the brave step of contacting police before we find them. There is something which has clearly got out of hand.’’
A couple on Ward St said they had gone to bed leaving their windows open due to the hot Friday night, when they heard a woman’s scream. ‘‘It was definitely a frightening scream, I knew something was wrong,’’ said the resident, who did not want to be named.
Immediately afterward, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps.
The couple had heard a loud ‘‘bang’’ too. When he looked through the window, he saw two men sprinting from the direction of Tolley’s place, heading around the corner to adjacent Wilford St.
‘‘They weren’t popping down the road, they were bolting down the road, like running away for something.’’