A man is in custody at the Royal Darwin Hospital over the alleged murder of a Leanyer woman Thursday afternoon, NT Police have said.

Police and paramedics were called to the Leanyer residence around 5:30pm, after receiving reports of an unresponsive woman.

It was later revealed that the woman’s husband arrived home from work at that time to find his wife dead in the front yard. Emergency services arrived and a crime scene was established.

Police said on Friday afternoon that the woman, 39, had sustained stabbing injuries “caused by a sharp-edged type weapon”.

Police said the attack most likely occurred around 2:30pm.

A 56-year-old man was later arrested in the Palmerston suburb of Roseberry at 2am with the assistance of the Territory Response Group to negotiate.

He was taken to the hospital for “prior” injuries that police have not explained.

Police are calling for anyone with info about this vehicle to contact them.

“At this stage detectives are treating this incident as a homicide. It is believed the man and woman were known to one another,” Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Morrissey said.

“The man suffered injuries and is currently under police guard at Royal Darwin Hospital.”

Sgt Morrisey later said police were still determining the nature of the relationship between the man charged and the woman, but said they were not related to each other.

Police called for anyone with information about a silver Nissan Navara duel cab ute that was seen in the Leanyer area around 2:30 pm to contact them or Crime Stoppers.