Man Charged with Murder After Female Jogger Found Dead in Upmarket Suburb of Remuera, Auckland – updated

Joanne Marie Pert

Update: The deceased woman has been identified as 41 year old mother of two children, Joanne Marie Pert. Her father Kevin Pert described her as “Super-qualified. She was an accountant and had a medical degree, and was a great sportswoman”. Ms Pert is believed to have once lived in London, she is survived by her two children Molly, age 6, and Harry aged 7. Ms Pert was studying a Health Science Masters degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Ms Pert lived about 6 km from where she died. A Mount Roskill man has appeared in court on Friday. Judge Claire Ryan has ordered a number of reports including a psychiatric evaluation. Again, our thoughts are with the family of the deceased at this difficult time.

A female jogger has been found murdered in the garden of a property in the Auckland suburb of Remuera. The attack in Auckland happened less than a month after a female jogger was hog-tied and raped in Dunedin.

Residents of the Remeura community where Ms Pert was attacked have given interviews to the press:

Locals say they are reeling after the murder and “extremely distressed”. “Some say they were frightened to know the violent attack happened in a busy street in broad daylight”.

“I just can’t believe it. It’s really scary,” resident Nicky Foreman said. Police spent the day searching her garden, which is adjacent to the police cordon that remained in place on Thursday night.

Shore Rd and nearby Hobson Bay walkway were popular spots for people walking and jogging and there were likely many people out at the time the murder occurred, Foreman said.

“We’re often out there walking… I think this will stop women in Remuera from using the walkway, for a wee while at least.” source

A Pacific Island man may have been detained

A man has turned himself in to police at Auckland’s central police station and handed over a weapon. Speculation is rife that he was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the attack. Twitter members report that during TV One coverage a reporter asked “What’s a Pacific Islander doing there (in Remuera)?” (another link)

At this stage police say there is “no evidence to indicate” the 24 year old man they arrested knew the victim.

Our twitter followers may have seen our recent Tweet in which we highlighted a reddit New Zealand thread, in which female joggers spoke about their fears of street harassment in New Zealand: