A newly released coroner’s report has shed light on why police did not pursue criminal charges against a man who killed his neighbour with blows from a samurai sword and a baseball bat two and a half years ago.
Baden Taikato, 57, bled to death in a driveway near his Takanini home in the early morning hours of Christmas Day 2022.
He had a pre-existing heart disease that reduced his body’s ability to cope with blood loss from the two major head wounds, Coroner Erin Woolley said in findings issued late last month but made public this morning.
Police initially arrested neighbour William Charles Newman and charged him with assault. His lawyer indicated at his first appearance that a homicide-related charge was likely to follow.
But months later, police instead dropped the case altogether.
“Following legal advice, this has been determined to be self-defence and as a result this charge has been withdrawn,” a police spokesperson told the Herald in May 2023.
Police declined further comment at the time.
But the coroner’s findings outline, for the first time publicly, the chaotic moments that preceded the fatal blows.
Taikato had been socialising at his home on Christmas Eve with his adult son and Newman’s flatmate, who was described as “quite intoxicated”. Newman and his partner were awakened when their flatmate, accompanied by Taikato’s son, noisily returned home just after midnight.
The roommate had started kicking his own bedroom door after realising he had locked himself out. When Newman left his bedroom to investigate the situation, his dog got loose and ran towards Taikato’s son, who retreated into a bathroom.
An argument ensued in which Newman armed himself with the baseball bat and the sword and yelled at the neighbour to get out of his house, the coroner’s findings state.
Taikato’s son left but he and Newman’s partner continued to yell at each other, authorities said.
Father and son returned to the neighbour’s home a short time later – the son allegedly carrying an axe while Taikato held a handsaw.
Taikato approached Newman’s partner, who was standing on the porch of their home in front of a glass door, documents state.
“Baden yelled at William, who could be seen inside the house in the kitchen, to come out,” the coroner’s findings state, explaining that Taikato’s son was at the same time hitting the house with his axe – shattering the kitchen window.
Newman began throwing various kitchen items at Taikato through the smashed window, some of which hit Taikato in the head.
“Baden reacted by punching the outside of the glass door that [Newman’s partner] was standing in front of,” documents state. “She pushed Baden backwards and he stumbled, before punching the door.
“William says that at this point he saw Baden with his hands around [his partner’s] neck, so he swung the baseball bat through the glass door. In doing so, he smashed the door and hit Baden on the arm. William swung the baseball bat again and hit Baden on his head before also striking Baden with a sword on the right side of his head.”
Taikato backed away, holding his head. First responders found him on the driveway minutes later.
A pathologist later observed a “chop injury” to Taikato’s head above his right ear that was believed to have been caused by the sword. There was also a large scalp cut caused by a blunt object that had resulted in “significant bleeding”, the pathologist noted.
The injuries were made worse, the pathologist said, by a narrowed artery in Taikato’s heart, probably caused by his diabetes. It was deemed a contributory factor to his death.
After her independent investigation, the coroner reached the same conclusion.
Coroner Woolley also noted the outcome of the police investigation.
“It is not the role of a coroner to cast blame or to decide that a person is legally responsible for the death under criminal, civil or disciplinary law,” she said.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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