New Zealand Mass Killing Leaves 7 Dead
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Seven people from two families, five of them children, were stabbed or bludgeoned to death in a house in the North Island town of Masterton, police officials said today.
They said a 25-year-old Masterton man--not identified--will be charged with murder following discovery of the bodies late Friday night.
Police identified the victims as Piripi Ratima, 7, and his brothers Barney, 5, and Stacey, 2; and Philip Fergusson, 13, his sister Nicola, 21, her companion, Bevan Tepu, 21, and the couple’s son Steven Tepu, 3.
Nicola Fergusson was seven months pregnant, officers added.
Masterton is 50 miles north of Wellington, the capital.
It was New Zealand’s second mass killing in five weeks. On May 20, farmer Brian Schlaepfer, 64, killed six members of his family and then killed himself.
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