The British couple found dead in a suspected murder-suicide at a property in the Wellington suburb of Roseneath on Monday night were Ben and Claire Anderson, it is understood.
Ben is a former University of Otago researcher, spending 2017 through to 2019 at the university as an EU-funded Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellow.
The couple are believed to have adult children in Central Otago.
A concerned family member asked officers to do a welfare check on the occupants of the Palliser Road property about 10.25pm on Monday.
Police forced their way in and found two people dead.
Post mortems were completed on Wednesday and the case will be referred to the coroner, as police are not searching for anyone else in relation to the deaths.
Ben had been living and working in New Zealand, while Claire had been moving between New Zealand and the UK, before settling in Wellington in December, Prestidge said.
He worked in science, she had been a teacher, and they had adult children in New Zealand. They had been considering moving to Central Otago to be closer to them, she said.
Prestidge was unsure if Claire had found work in New Zealand yet.
Ben Anderson's LinkedIn profile said he had been working at the Building Research Association (BRANZ) as a principal research scientist since January 2024. BRANZ said it was directing all enquiries to police.
Prior to his time at BRANZ, Ben Anderson had been working at the University of Southampton, and the University of Otago which he left in 2019.
He was an EU-funded Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellow, researching at Otago between 2017 and 2019, and then Southampton between 2019 and 2020, looking at local electricity demand profiles.
"They love the wildlife ... they just loved the open air space.
"The lady said to me that, you know, previously in London, she kind of felt a little bit unsafe wherever she went.
"In New Zealand, she just felt ... a sense of calm and and just felt like she was able to really enjoy her life here."
The day the Prestidges moved in, they met the woman as they were carting boxes to their new home.
"She was absolutely lovely," Prestidge said.
"I just thought, well, what a lovely person, like I feel lucky to have them as neighbours."
She said she met the woman's husband and the property owner on their shared path a few days later, and they invited the Prestidges over for dinner.
The Prestidges ended up locking themselves out of their house and stayed late with their neighbours as they waited for a locksmith.
"They were just ... really warm and inviting," she said.
Prestidge said she had no idea what had happened and was shocked to learn of the deaths.
"They didn't seem like a couple that would have any kind of, you know, issues with each other or anything like that," she said.
"And definitely, their relationship with [their landlord] was just really ... one of deep friendship, I'd say."
Their deaths were a tragedy, she said.
"These people ... could contribute so much to New Zealand, and they're the kind of people that you dream of having as neighbours.
"It's certainly a loss."
The University of Otago declined to comment, and the University of Southampton had been contacted.
Wellington District Commander Corrie Parnell would not confirm the people who died were the Andersons.
Police would not release their names until they had the authority of the coroner, he said.
Parnell understood they were British, and had family in New Zealand, who police had been in touch with.
