Tonight, probably like a good deal of New Zealand, we watched TV1 and TV3 news with tremendous sadness as the body of a beautiful young woman was found in a state that is the stuff of nightmares.
Carmen Thomas, lest we forget was a mother, a sister and a daughter. She was loved. She was murdered and the family suffered the indescribable anguish of knowing she was dead but that her body had been hidden.
One of the country's most senior journalists remarked the other day that she was disturbed by the images of Carmen that media outlets were running. Its clear that Carmen lived her life on the edge but the photos were the tackiest of those taken of this striking young woman.
Tonight, the place where her remains were discarded like some unwanted rubbish, was finally found.
And tonight the country also witnessed a rare glimpse of the real humanity that flows through the veins of our police. The image of Detective Inspector Mark Benefield showing the impact the Carmen's death had on him was profound. It was a stark reminder to the nation that this was not the death of a woman with bad morals but the death of a young vibrant mum who lived life as she chose, a woman who was loved. In both life and death, people cared about her.
It was also a moment that the nation could feel proud of the police force. This is a death that has had a huge impact on those who have been closest to it. The police honour guard for the hearse that took the body of that beautiful young mum back to her family was extremely moving.
It gave Carmen back the one thing that the media, over the last few weeks had stripped from her - her diginity and respect.
On one hand we can only reel in horror over the nature of this crime but in a brief moment, the crumpled face of Det Inspector Mark Benefield showed us something else -that we have a policeman who is not detached from the community but is indeed a very real part of it. As a policeman Benefield has shown incredible doggedness in solving this crime and bringing Carmen home. As a husband, a father and a son he was moved by the death of a young woman.
It is a good thing that we have men like Mark Benefield in our police force.
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