A woman has been charged over the death of a former business high-flyer who died days after being repeatedly bashed with a mallet.
Natalie Ann Reader Van Breugel appeared at the Waitakere District Court on Wednesday, charged with the manslaughter of Lance Bain.
Police allege the 45-year-old hit Mr Bain "numerous times'' with a mallet and caused his death.
She has also been charged with causing grievous bodily harm and threatening to kill, according to police charge sheets.
It is understood Van Bruegel and Mr Bain were in a relationship.
The alleged assault happened in Ranui on November 17, but 11 days passed before Mr Bain got medical help. He died five days later in hospital.
The Coroner asked police to review the assault and the "culmination of events'' that led to Mr Bain's death.
The Weekend Herald reported last month that the 43-year-old made his fortune selling cars and property but lost millions of dollars in recent years after a difficult break-up with his wife Michele.
He was a fan of red Ferraris and had lived in some of Auckland's most exclusive suburbs, but lost all his property in mortgagee sales.
A close friend, Michael Ball, told the Weekend Herald Mr Bain was planning a comeback and was hoping to start a new business venture before he died.
"He'd been at his lowest and he was making a comeback and wanted to start another business.''
He said car dealers all called him "Mr South Auckland'' because he was such an identity in the industry.
"He loved the colour red - had two red Ferraris and he painted his kitchen red and would pay more for a car if it was red.''
But Mr Ball said his friend lost $8 million after his break-up which coincided with the recession.
In 2005, the family featured in a Herald property story which said the family were moving out of their $2m Orakei home because it was too big for them.
That house had a gym, internal courtyard with fireplace, air conditioning in three of the four bedrooms and a projection TV as well as views of Hobson Bay, the city and the harbour.
"It was like a domino effect how he lost everything. It just got worse and worse and worse.''
The car industry "crashed'' a couple of years back, at a time when Mr Bain was financing some car dealers in South Auckland, he said.
"The mortgages on a lot of properties were compounding because they weren't getting paid and they ended up selling for millions less than what they were worth.''
Those properties included two waterfront sites in Pauanui that were sold "dirt cheap''.
Van Breugel is due to re-appear in the Waitakere family violence court next month.
- By Edward Gay and Andrew Koubaridis
