Police probe second unexplained death in Wellington within 24 hours

4:16 pm on 25 January 2024
A police car and other cars on Baroda Street.

A police car on Baroda Street where they are investigating an unexplained death. Photo: RNZ / Soumya Bhamidipati

A resident of a quiet Wellington cul-de-sac now busy with police investigating an unexplained death says the incident has been "pretty scary" for neighbours.

Wellington police are investigating a death in Khandallah - the second unexplained death in the northern suburbs within 24 hours.

Emergency services were called to the address in Baroda Street at 11.49pm on Wednesday.

Police said the death was being treated as unexplained ahead of a scene investigation by CIB on Thursday morning. Police have been interviewing residents on Baroda Street and forensics staff are at the property.

A white house on Baroda Street police where police were carrying our a scene investigation.

Photo: RNZ / Soumya Bhamidipati

Mid-afternoon an officer was seen standing guard outside the house and a patrol car parked on the street.

Residents of the cul-de-sac told RNZ it was unusual to see police activity in the area.

There were as many as six police cars on the small street earlier in the day, some said.

One neighbour was surprised they had not heard anything on the quiet street.

"It's pretty scary yeah...

"I was talking to the other neighbours around the back, even closer to us, and they were like 'We were up at that time...we didn't hear anything, we should be able to hear these things'.

"Because you can hear everything on this street, but just having something like that happen, it's not very - it doesn't feel too good."

They said a woman lived alone in the house at the centre of the investigation.

Police at the scene of an unexplained death in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah.

Police at the scene of an unexplained death in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah. Photo: RNZ / Soumya Bhamidipati

One resident said nothing like this had happened in the area before.

Officers knocked on his door to ask if he had seen or heard any disturbance overnight, he said, but he did not know anything was wrong until he heard the news this morning.

Another resident said neighbours have checked their security camera footage but did not see anything unusual.

Meanwhile, a scene guard was still in place at the Tremewan Street property in Tawa where another person was found dead just before midnight on Tuesday.

No further details about the death have been provided.