A grieving husband who had been married only four months was today still trying to cope with the death of his wife who police may have been deliberately run down in her car.
Katie Jean Powles, 26, died as paramedics battled to keep her alive on the way to hospital on Tuesday night.
She suffered head injuries after her car was hit by a Nissan car driven by a man police said may have been bent on killing himself.
The 51-year-old driver is in hospital with head injuries and yesterday police said Mrs Powles' death was now being treated as a homicide.
The Nissan also crashed into a second car injuring the 42-year-old driver.
"We don't think it was a spur-of-the-moment thing," Detective Inspector Mark Gutry said last night.
"We are looking at whether this was a deliberate act."
Family members said Mrs Powles was always full of "life and bubbly smiles".
She had been married to Darren Powles for four months and Mr Powles' parents said she was "the shining light that made our son happy".
Mr Gutry said the Nissan driver had "on-going issues" and was known to police.
He left his home in the Auckland suburb of Swanson about 5.30pm on Tuesday, amid serious worries from his family about his state.
He bought alcohol and drove to South Auckland, where police were alerted about his erratic driving.
Staff at a service station in Karaka refused to tell him where the nearest bar was because he was drunk.
About 7.15pm in Linwood Rd, Karaka, he ploughed head-on into two cars travelling in the opposition direction.
Mrs Powles had been driving home from her job in Manukau where she worked as an office administrator.
