KEY POINTS:
The country's top health watchdog pulled no punches in his verdict on Roman Hasil's medical mishaps.
Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson's February report revealed Hasil botched eight of 32 sterilisations. Six patients became pregnant and some had to abort.
Up to seven others later found out he
had performed other surgical procedures on them without consent.
Paterson also criticised recruitment processes of the Whanganui District Health Board and Hasil's subsequent registration with the Medical Council.
Yet no one knew the full extent of his murky past. No one knew he was jailed in 1995 for domestic violence against his second wife in Singapore. No one knew he failed an Australian medical exam three times.
No one knew he left a New South Wales hospital after being accused of fiddling timesheets. No one knew he was sacked from another hospital for drinking on the job.
Worst of all, no one knew Hasil was a suspect in an infamous unsolved murder in Australia.
"Nothing would surprise me because it's all been so hideous what came out since he was here in Wanganui," said Fredericka Himmel, whose ovaries were removed without her consent on Hasil's orders.
"I think there's more in Australia, the life he led _ they have only just touched it."
ITALIAN BACKPACKER Victoria Cafasso had been in Tasmania only days before her body washed up on a beach in October, 1995.
According to a coroner's inquest, the 20-year-old law student had been battered in a "violent struggle", stabbed 21 times, knocked unconscious and dumped in the water.
There were no witnesses and few clues. More than 300 people were interviewed as potential suspects _ including Hasil.
The Czech-born doctor lived in St Helens, near the sleepy seaside township of Beaumaris where Cafasso was murdered.
He was deported to Australia in August 1995, shortly after being jailed in Singapore for threatening to kill second wife Rose Doyle.
Tasmanian police told the Herald on Sunday Hasil had no alibi and was still a "person of interest".
Detective Inspector Michael Otley said police had taken statements from three former partners in the past month.
"We've got these women saying he has a propensity for violence, a fascination with knives, that they don't like Hasil," Otley said.
"Most of what they've said has little leaning towards the case, other than this person was of a particular character."
But he did not rule out further interviews with Hasil if more evidence came to light. "I can't eliminate him."
WEEKS AFTER the murder, Roman Hasil left St Helens. Two years later he was employed at the Royal Hobart Hospital, where he failed written gynaecological exams three times in 1998 and 1999.
He passed a Medical Council exam in 2000 and got work at Lismore Base Hospital in New South Wales.
Hasil left in 2005 after the hospital found he fiddled timesheets and his time there is under further scrutiny. Australian Health Authorities are investigating 10 complaints of medical negligence and sexual assault between 2001 and 2005, with one patient claiming Hasil told staff to "stirrup the bitch" during an examination.
In May 2005, he was fired from a hospital in Victoria for drinking while on the job.
And after moving to New Zealand he was hired to work at Wanganui Hospital, which was desperate for another obstetrician.
In March 2006, the first of six complaints was laid about his drinking at work, although he wasn't stood down for another six months.
Despite Hasil's surgical blunders, Paterson reserved his harshest criticism for the Whanganui DHB. The hospital was slow to reveal the extent of his failures and never told the public about other severe errors.
Chief executive Memo Musa resigned a few months after the report was released, after initially telling Paterson there was "no significant public concern" over the hospital.
The report questions whether Hasil should have been hired in New Zealand and criticises the board's failure to check his references.
Hasil was interviewed by phone after his CV was forwarded to the board by Enterprise Recruitment.
No one verbally confirmed the written references provided by Enterprise or made independent inquiries about his credentials. The board admitted it was "an oversight" to have no reference from anyone who worked with Hasil after 1998.
By September 2005, the Medical Council had granted Hasil registration under supervision for six months. However, Paterson's investigation uncovered "obvious discrepancies and omissions" in his CV.
"It appears that Dr Hasil had a chequered work and medical registration history. A number of matters may well have caused concern about Dr Hasil's suitability for appointment or registration, or at least warranted closer scrutiny."
Enterprise chief executive Barry O'Brien referred the Herald on Sunday to the company's solicitor Duncan MacGill, who did not return calls.
WHEN NEWS of the botched operations broke in 2006, Hasil fled to Australia to work, but his registration was not renewed.
He was last known to be living at a homeless shelter in Sydney.
Another ex-wife, Sally, told TVNZ's Sunday programme Hasil used to beat her and was prone to bouts of violence. She apologised to every woman who had been hurt by her former husband. "Perhaps I should have done something earlier and I didn't. Maybe I want to right some wrongs. He needs to be stopped."
