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According to Detective Inspector Haley Ryan, a relative of the couple of the called them after there was no response from the duo. The officers found the house at the Palliser Rd property locked when they reached there at 10.25pm New Zealand time on Monday. After finding no response to their repeated knocking and ringing the door bell, the officers used force to enter the house where they found the two dead bodies.
The bodies were sent for autopsy and now the case will be taken over by the coroner. At present Wellington police do not suspect the involvement of anyone else in the deaths but issued an appeal to the general public to share any information related to the case with them.
"Police can confirm that the deaths of two people at a residential property on Palliser Road, Roseneath are being treated as a murder-suicide. Police are providing support to the family at the centre of this tragic event. The family have requested privacy as they grieve their loss. We continue to appeal to anyone who may have information that can help our enquiries, and anyone with residential CCTV that captures traffic movements in the Roseneath area, particularly on Palliser Road and surrounding streets, to contact Police," the appeal statement read.
According to their neighbours the two were jovial and helpful. Their landlord, too, lived on the same property. Their neighbour Emma Prestidge told NZ Herald that while Ben was working, Claire used to travel between between New Zealand and the UK, but had been in Wellington since December.
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Sharing more details, she added that Ben was employed and Claire was a teacher earlier. However, she admitted that she was unsure if Claire had been working in New Zealand. They couple were parents to adult children who were also living in New Zealand and were planning to shift to Otago.
The LinkedIn profile of Ben revealed he was a principal research scientist with the Building Research Association (Branz) since January 2024. His previous employment was with the University of Southampton and the University of Otago.
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