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Scottish woman aged 26 murdered on holiday in New Zealand
A young Scottish woman has been murdered in New Zealand in what police have described as a "ghastly attack". Karen Aim, 26, from Orkney, was assaulted while walking home from a night out and her body was discovered in the early hours of yesterday. She was found by chance by police investigating a school break-in. As they searched the grounds, their torch beams illuminated the dying victim. An ambulance was called and, according to reports, she managed to whisper her name to police. She died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Ms Aim had been working in a resort called Wairakei in the town of Taupo on New Zealand's North Island. A friend described her as "the sweetest person I ever met". She said the Ms Aim had fallen in love with the country when she had visited for a holiday.
"She had come back to stay," the friend said. "But she had only been here two months. She did not deserve this." The victim's parents, Brian and Peggy Aim, and her brother Alan, have been told of her death.A spokesman for Northern Constabulary, which is liaising with New Zealand police, said the family wanted time to grieve at their home in Kirkwall. In New Zealand, meanwhile, police have been making door-to-door inquiries and a large area, including the Taupo Nui-a-Tia College, remained cordoned off. Officers at the scene described it as a "ghastly attack". It was not known last night whether a weapon had been used or if Ms Aim had been sexually assaulted.
The Scot initially travelled to New Zealand in October 2006 and stayed for three months. On a social networking website, she described how, on her return, she had taken a job in a glass-blowing gallery in Taupo, a picturesque lakeside town in the heart of the North Island.She said that she was sharing a home with a New Zealander and an Irish girl, and was enjoying her adventure. Detective Sergeant Greg Turner, who is leading the investigation, said: "What we have here is a real who dunit we have a long way to go with this one."
Police have established that Ms Aim had spent the evening visiting several pubs and is understood to have left Mulligan's Bar in central Taupo at about midnight on Wednesday, setting out to walk back to the flat she shared with her friends. It is not known if she left the bar alone. The murder came hours after Rick Cooper, the mayor of Taupo, had announced a council plan to improve security in the town.18/01/08 Scott Man
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