Detective Marsden: Can you describe to us what happened this morning?

Jo Blackwell: Well, I woke up suddenly. I don’t know how long I was asleep for but it was late.

Detective Marsden: And what woke you?

Jo Blackwell: Well, umm. I heard screams, these animal screams, you know. Like nothing I’ve ever heard before. I knew someone was in trouble so I sat up and shook my husband, Paul. I figured there was a fight at the house. I didn’t want to interfere but the screams were so loud and so desperate that I thought I better call the police.

Detective Marsden: You called the police as soon as you heard the screams?

Jo Blackwell: Well, maybe I waited a minute or two. Paul thought I might have been hearing things, then he heard them too.

I called the Primrose house but no one answered, then I tried Gwen’s mobile but she didn’t pick up. By that stage, the screams had stopped. But then I heard them again.

Detective Marsden: Okay. And were these screams also animalistic? Or different?

Jo Blackwell: A bit different, just this long, winding scream. I put my dressing gown on and we wandered down the driveway. We can see their house from there, we’re directly across, you see. We thought we’d wait for the police because we didn’t know what was happening – we didn’t want to be seen. After a few minutes, we heard sirens. The fog was really thick but then we saw a man come out of the property. We could sense something was wrong. He didn’t seem to notice us but he came out of the gate and went off down the road.

Detective Marsden: Can you describe the man you saw?

Jo Blackwell: We both recognised him. He used to live there – we’d see him on his skateboard some days. He was Māori. He was their chef. Maybe Paul’s height. Detective Marsden: Did you see anyone else? Or any vehicles?

Jo Blackwell: No, just him. Just that man. He was stumbling. Dark patches on his clothes. It looked like he had blood on him. We sort of froze. We didn’t know what to do. Then you all turned up and Paul ran over to tell you but by then the chef was long gone…

Continue reading the extract here.

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