Tim Brown
South Island Correspondent
The
family of a Christchurch woman who was murdered by a patient
who absconded from a psychiatric hospital has asked why it
took their mother’s death for changes to be made at
Hillmorton.
Laisa Waka Tunidau was stabbed
to death by Zakariye Mohamed Hussein outside
her Sockburn home in June 2022.
Hussein was jailed
for life with a 13-year non-parole period in November
that year and had previously been jailed for more than six
years for kidnapping, stabbing and intimidating multiple
people across Christchurch in March 2012.
At the time
of Waka Tunidau’s death, Hussein was allowed to leave
Hillmorton Hospital on unescorted community leave.
On
Monday, an inquest
heard Hussein had left the hospital on 35 occasions and
had returned without incident between being granted leave in
late April 2022 and the day of Waka Tunidau’s
murder.
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Hussein absconded from community leave and
went AWOL – absent without leave – on the day he attacked
Waka Tunidau.
Health New Zealand’s lawyer Jonathan
Coates said Hussein was a patient, not a prisoner, at the
time and his treatment had to be seen in that
light.
Waka
Tunidau’s family questioned how he was ever assessed as
safe enough to leave the hospital on his own.
Her
daughter, Dontey Tunidau, tearfully told the inquest she was
exhausted by the fight for truth.
“I for one am tired
of not getting answers regarding what is being done to help
improve security and ensuring safety is being prioritised,”
she told the court.
“I understand that this does not
bring my mother back but I hope it prevents another family
from facing what mine is going through right now. Why did it
take for my mother’s death for a mental institution like
Hillmorton to then improve on how they run their facility?
What if Zak hadn’t left the premises? Why was Zak allowed to
leave? Why wasn’t he supervised? These are not even half of
the questions that run through my head and my mind on a
daily basis.
“It just shows how one’s negligence and
lack of communication can result in such serious crime. I
understand that Hillmorton Hospital as a whole didn’t commit
the crime but had the staff taken the right precautions, Zak
wouldn’t have walked off that premises.
“This gutless
man had already hurt people before and yet was still held at
a mental hospital. He manipulated the system and won and
instead of being put in jail, from the very first incident,
he was admitted into Hillmorton.”
Dontey
Tunidau said she was speaking to the court as the voice for
her mother.
“There’s not a day that goes by where we
don’t miss or think about Mum. As hard as we have tried to
adjust to life without Mum, it is still a struggle. Mum was
the glue and through her, we felt love, peace and she was
our home,” she said.
“We have suffered so much and not
being given straight answers breaks our hearts even more. I
lost my mum and I don’t want anybody else to lose their
loved ones simply because somebody neglected and overlooked
their duties in taking the right precautions when dealing
with a person like Zak.
“I understand that Zakariye is
now serving his sentence but my family and I are the ones
serving this life sentence that I would never wish on
anybody.”
Waka Tunidau was murdered outside her home
with her youngest son Eparama Tunidau witnessing the
commotion.
“On
Saturday, 25th of June 2022 my life changed forever. I was
only 11-years-old,” he told the court on Monday.
“That
afternoon I was waiting patiently for my mother to come
home. I remember seeing people suddenly rushing around and
police gathering. At that moment I did not understand what
was happening. I did not realise the person involved was my
mother.
“When I learned the truth it felt as though my
world had collapsed. As a child I could not fully understand
how something so terrible could happen. What I did
understand was that the person I loved most, the person who
cared for me every day, was gone. From that day onward I
carried a pain that no child should ever carry.”
While
Eparama had learned to life with his grief in the years
since, the pain still remained.
“The wound is still
there,” he said.
“As I now approach my 16th birthday
this coming Wednesday, I often reflect on the years that
have passed without my mum. The pain has changed over time,
but it has never disappeared. There are still days when I
wish I could hear her voice, ask her for advice, or receive
one more hug. There are still moments when I feel loneliness
and emptiness deeply.
“No court decision can bring my
mother back. Nothing can replace the love, guidance, comfort
and the presence that she gave me. The reality is that I
must continue living with this loss for the rest of my life.
However, I want the court to know that I’m doing my best to
honour my mother’s memory. I’m trying to build a future that
would make her proud.”
Waka Tunidau’s eldest son
Epineri Tunidau last saw his mother alive when she visited
Fiji in 2018.
“Four
years later she returned not as the loving mother I
remembered but in a coffin,” he told the court.
“That
image is something I will carry with me for the rest of my
life. The manner in which my mother’s life was taken remains
deeply difficult for me to understand and accept. No mother,
no parent and no human being deserves to lose their life in
such circumstances.”
Waka Tunidau’s absence was
particularly felt on Mother’s Day, birthdays and Christmas,
Epineri Tunidau said.
“What should be occasions of joy
are often overshadowed by sadness because she is not there,”
he said.
“Every future milestone in our lives is now
marked by her absence. She will never again celebrate our
birthday with us, witness our achievements, stand proudly
beside us at our graduations or share the joy of our
weddings. She will never have the opportunity to hold her
grandchildren or create memories with future generations of
our family. These losses are not temporary. They are losses
we will carry for the rest of our lives.”
Waka
Tunidau’s husband Nemani Tunidau told the court he had
chosen to forgive the person responsible for his wife’s
death and the people who failed her.
“Not because what
happened was acceptable, not because our suffering was
insignificant and not because accountability is unimportant.
I have chosen forgiveness because I believe healing is the
only possible when truth is acknowledged and responsibility
is accepted and meaningful changes follow,” he
said.
“That
is what our family sought from the beginning – truth,
accountability, learning and change.
“If Laisa’s
legacy can help strengthen the system, improve, safeguard
and save even one life in the future then her memory will
continue to make a difference long after
today.
“Today, above all else, I ask that Laisa be
remembered not only for the tragedy of how she died but for
the remarkable life she lived, the love she gave and the
family she devoted herself to. Her life mattered, her voice
mattered, her legacy matters.”
Nemani Tunidau used his
last words in court to speak directly to his
wife.
“Laisa, thank you for the love you gave us, for
the family we built together and for our four children who
continue to carry our spirit every day. We miss you more
than words can ever express. Your memory lives in our
hearts, in our children and in all that we do. You will
never be forgotten, your love continues to guide us and your
legacy continues through the lives you touched.”
The
first phase of the inquest is set down for five days and
will resume later this year.
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