Double-murder suspect dined with victim last week

The man suspected of murdering Vero Insurance manager Trevor Waite and air hostess Glenys Stanton at the weekend dined with Ms Stanton on Tuesday last week.

John Mowatt, a father of three who’d recently emerged from a marriage breakup, shot himself in front of police at Woodhill Forest northwest of Auckland last night.

The suspect was seen on Saturday burning rubbish, police are understood to have recovered the remains of a balaclava and other items of interest from the fire site. The dead man had earlier told friends he suspected his air hostess girlfriend was seeing someone else, after seeing condoms fall out of her Air New Zealand bag. Those who knew him say he’d been heavily depressed in recent weeks about the relationship, problems he was having with a house renovation project, and family issues.

“He was in a very, very dark place,” one acquaintance told InvestigateDaily.

The bodies of Mr Waite and Ms Stanton were found in Mr Waite’s bedroom at his home on a Papakura lifestyle block on Sunday morning, after his 18 year old daughter entered the room to find out why he had not risen for breakfast.

51 year old Mr Waite is survived by three children, and 47 year old Ms Stanton has two grown children and three grandchildren.