Two men will appear in court this morning charged over the
fatal stabbing of a Levin man last Friday.
A 31-year-old Levin man charged with the murder of Michael
Valentine and a 29-year-old charged with his assault will
appear in Palmerston North District Court.
A 22-year-old charged with assault will appear in Levin
District Court on Thursday.
Police have issued a warning about what they say is incorrect
information being posted on social media, including the types
of injuries Mr Valentine received and who may have inflicted
them.
Detective Senior Sergeant Marc Hercock said the incorrect
speculation was slowing down the investigation.
"We are only 48 hours into this investigation and there are
still a number of lines of inquiry to follow, not to mention
collation of evidence," he said yesterday.
"I want to make it clear that at no stage have police said
that the three men arrested were friends of Mr Valentine's."
He said a preliminary post-mortem examination indicated Mr
Valentine was killed by a single stab wound to the chest
caused by a knife.
"The comments on social media are not consistent with what we
know," Mr Hercock said.
"As I have reiterated previously this is still an active
investigation and because matters are before the courts we
cannot comment any further on what specifically happened
without potentially jeopardising the work done so far.
"The 15 staff deployed on this investigation are working
incredibly hard to respond to any information we receive.
"When information can't be validated such as some of the
claims on social media, these impede the progress we are
making."
Anyone with information about Mr Valentine's death should
call Levin Police on 06 366 0500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555
111.
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