A 33-year-old man was to appear in Rotorua District Court on Saturday following the discovery of a woman's body in the bedroom of a house.
The Kaingaroa man has been charged with assault.
The police were called to a house in Groome St, Kaingaroa, near Rotorua, at about 10.15 on Friday night.
Ambulance staff were unable to resuscitate the 38-year-old woman.
The house was cordoned off overnight and a forensic team was set to carry out a full scene examination on Saturday morning.
A post-mortem was due to be carried out later onSsaturday.