Faye (Frances Anne) Phelps and her late husband Bill. Photo: Supplied
A man who has admitted to murdering a woman at her Mt Pleasant home in Christchurch was a Hillmorton Hospital mental health patient, it can now be revealed.
At Christchurch's High Court on Friday, Elliott Cameron pleaded guilty to murdering 83-year-old Frances Anne Phelps, known as Faye, in October last year.
Phelps was found dead on 7 October but police believed she was killed days earlier on 4 October.
The summary of facts remained suppressed, with Cameron to be sentenced in June.
Health New Zealand Te Waipounamu said it would do a full review into the circumstances of Phelps' murder.
Elliott Cameron appeared at the Christchurch High Court on Friday. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Karen Phelps said her mother's death had felt "surreal" and she was pleased the court process would not be drawn out.
"I miss my mum terribly and it's so upsetting to think that she died in such an awful way," she said.
There were many unanswered questions about her mother's death, Phelps said.
"She was a sweet, innocent lady. She didn't deserve that, nobody does," she said.
Phelps last year told RNZ her mother was a kind and gentle soul who was treasured by everyone.
"It's obviously very difficult to have someone wrenched away from you so suddenly and unexpectedly in such circumstances. It feels like being in the middle of a movie, surreal and unbelievable," she said.
"It's had a wide-reaching effect with my mum having touched so many lives with her generous nature. Everyone is struggling to cope and understand how something so horrible could have happened to such a lovely person."
Phelps' daughter said her mother gave a lot to her community and was a keen singer and actress with a strong Christian faith.
She had lived in the same house for 50 years with her husband Bill, who died two years earlier.
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