Police were speaking to reporters about the attempted murder of two people when they were alerted to the discovery of a third person found dead by a member of the public who interrupted the media conference.
Detective Inspector Kelly Harvey was speaking about the alleged double stabbing of a man and woman at Wulguru, a suburb of Townsville, on Wednesday morning when a man appeared and yelled out "She's dead".
"Who?" Det Insp Harvey asked.
"My neighbour," the man replied.
The man had discovered the body of the 80-year-old when he decided to check on her because her newspaper hadn't been collected.
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She had suffered stab wounds to her chest.
The discovery came after police launched the investigation into a "stabbing rampage", which left a 26-year-old woman and 28-year-old man injured.
Police say they received about 15 calls for help from residents about a man who was damaging fences and cars in the street.
A 32-year-old man was arrested after being subdued with a Taser.
Det Insp Harvey said the man was naked in the street and armed with a knife and fence paling.
He is in police custody in hospital, where he is being treated for self-inflicted wounds.
He knew the 26-year-old female victim, who is in a stable condition in hospital, but did not know the male victim, who was stabbed in the face.
Police say all three stabbings are connected.
