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A Taranaki father who was found dead with his son in a South Taranaki home will be remembered as a kind man who always laughed, says his niece.
The bodies of 55-year-old Stephen John Frost and his 15-year-old son, Regan Frost-Lawn, were discovered by police after officers were called to a home on Manawapou Rd, Hāwera, around 2.50 a.m. Monday. .
A 21-year-old man, who has provisional name deletion, has been charged with his murder and is scheduled to reappear in New Plymouth Superior Court on February 9.
He was placed on remand after an appearance in New Plymouth District Court on Monday.
Frost’s niece, Gina Bethune, said the news of the deaths had shocked her entire family and everyone in it.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Police and ESR examined the property on Manawapou Rd, Hāwera, where Stephen Frost and his son Regan Frost-Lawn were found dead on Monday.
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“I was devastated,” Bethune said. “We are finding it difficult at the moment to understand what has happened to such a good person.”
Bethune said that Frost was her father Grant’s brother, so they spent the school holidays and Christmas holidays at her uncle’s dairy farm.
“I grew up with Stephen as an important part of my life,” she said. “He was a kind man, always laughing and being funny. He was the type that never raised his voice. “
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Flowers were placed at the scene of the alleged double murder on Monday.
Bethune has fond memories of learning to hunt and manage a dairy farm from her time with Frost.
“He was a hard worker, he helped run many dairy farms in Hāwera district,” he said. “He worked hard for what he had.”
Bethune is based in Palmerston North and although she hadn’t seen Frost in a while, she spoke to him on the phone a month ago.
“I lost contact with my uncle in recent years because life got in my way, as it does.”
For that reason, she said she did not know her son Frost-Lawn very well.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Autopsies were scheduled for Tuesday.
Frost was a “straight” man who did not use drugs, did not get in trouble and was not affiliated with a gang, Bethune said.
“He was a really good person, really placid.
“He loved his children and his family very much. He was especially close to his brother Grant, my dad, and he appreciated his friends, ”she said. “Everyone misses him.”
Police officially released the names and ages of the two who died on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman said the investigation into the deaths was ongoing, including an examination of the scene at the Hāwera property where the bodies were found.
He said autopsies on the bodies, which began Tuesday, had been completed.
The police, however, did not release any details of how the couple died, as the matter was now before the courts.
