Coroner Chris Devonport has found the cause of the death of Amelia Whatarau cannot be concluded due to key witnesses refusing to speak to police.
Coroner Chris Devonport has found the cause of the death of Amelia Whatarau cannot be concluded due to key witnesses refusing to speak to police.
A coronial inquiry into the death of a Whakatu woman has not been able to make a finding on the cause of her death due to key witnesses refusing to speak to police.
Amelia Koriana Whatarau, 42, died of severe burns she received during a domestic dispute at her homein Hastings on Christmas Day in 2012. She later died in Middlemore Hospital while being treated in the burns unit on December 30.
In a finding released on Monday coroner Chris Devonport said due to key witnesses refusing to make statements that would enable facts to be established there was "insufficient evidence to determine whether Ms Whatarau died as a result of suicide, unintentionally by her actions, or as a result of actions of another party".
Emergency services were called to the property on Christmas Day after neighbours reported hearing screams that somebody was on fire after a large cloud of black smoke was seen rising from the backyard where she and her partner lived with their daughters.
Ms Whatarau was found to have burns to approximately 52 per cent of her body, predominantly her face, torso, upper limbs and right thigh.
