Kevin Jagusch died at the scene and Pamela Jagusch was badly injured. She did not know her husband had died when she was airlifted to Waikato Hospital.
Lying in intensive care later that day, she woke briefly and asked about him.
The medical team, who also did not know what had happened to Kevin, called their son Blair Jagusch, who was living and working in the United States, and put the phone close to Pamela’s ear.
Blair Jagusch told her Kevin had died.
“This is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do,” Blair Jagusch said in a victim impact statement read via audio-visual link to the Napier District Court today, before Wihongi was jailed for four years.
“I will never forget this moment. It should never have happened,” Blair Jagusch said of the phone call to his mother.
“I should never have had to tell my mother her husband of almost 50 years was dead,” he said.
“This only happened because another person made choices to take drugs and drive dangerously.”
As Pamela and Kevin Jagusch drove towards Taupō, on their way home from a holiday, Wihongi was coming the other way. He had already been seen driving dangerously and at speed by other road users.
Two witnesses saw the Mongrel Mob associate’s silver Holden Commodore overtake four other vehicles in one go at an estimated 120km/h to 130km/h in a 100km/h zone.
Soon afterwards, he was seen overtaking another two cars at speed in an 80km/h zone, driving in the wrong lane before pulling in as another car came around a bend.
About 80km from Napier, he crossed the centre line and into the northbound lane on a sweeping right-hand bend, into the path of three oncoming cars.
The first driver managed to swerve onto the shoulder of the road to avoid a collision.
Wihongi’s car hit a car driven by Dr Alexandra Llewellyn, causing her to lose control and spin out of her lane before coming to rest, with her rear driver’s side wheel dislodged.
Seconds later, Wihongi struck the Jaguschs’ Honda Jazz head-on.
Llewellyn had suffered soft tissue injuries to her wrist, arm and shoulder but joined other off-duty medical staff who were passing by in providing medical aid to the injured, including Wihongi.
Wihongi initially refused treatment and told the helpers that his name was Elvis. He was also airlifted to hospital.
Pamela Jagusch’s injuries including a brain bleed, broken ribs and extensive abdominal injuries. She spent 12 weeks in hospital before she was able to sit up.
Kevin Jagusch received CPR but could not be revived. He died on the side of the road.
Pamela Jagusch also read her victim impact statement to the court.
She said that her life now revolved around her many rehabilitation appointments as she recovered from her injuries, unable to drive and unable to return to work for more than two days a week.
She also said that she and Kevin had been looking forward to their 50th wedding anniversary, which did not happen.
“The day of the accident you took the love of my life,” she said.
“Your decision to take meth and drive rests solely on your shoulders. Nobody made you do this. It was your decision alone.”
Referring directly to her husband, she said: “I miss you, Kevin, and love you for ever.”
Another son, Dean Jagusch, also based overseas, said the crash had a “monumental” effect on the family, emotionally and financially, in addition to his mother’s injuries.
Judge Richard Earwaker said Wihongi, a former truck driver, had chosen to drive the nearly 380km from Hamilton to Wairoa knowing he was significantly sleep deprived after four days awake using methamphetamine.
Judge Earwaker sentenced Wihongi to four years in prison for dangerous driving causing death, with a three-year disqualification from driving to start on the day of his release.
Wihongi was sentenced to lesser concurrent sentences for two charges of dangerous driving causing injury, consuming methamphetamine, possession of a drug pipe and refusing to give a blood sample.
Blair Jagusch said his father died on his birthday and his parents had phoned him to wish him a happy birthday before they began their journey.
“Every birthday for the rest of my life will be marked as the day Dad was killed and my mother severely injured because of this person’s choices and actions,” he said.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.
