Christopher Shadrock was convicted of murdering Joanne Wang by running her over in the car park of a South Auckland mall in 2008. Photo / Natalie Slade
Warning: this story contains references to suicide and mental health
The man who murdered Jian “Joanne’' Wang – running her down in a South Auckland mall car park during a bag snatch in 2008 – took his own life in prison while under the influence of methamphetamine and an anti-psychotic drug not prescribed to him.
Christopher Jacob Shadrock was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 12 years for murdering Wang in front of her young son in June 2008.
Then 23, Shadrock stole Wang’s handbag as she walked through the Manukau Westfield shopping centre car park.
The bag contained a large sum of cash and Wang – who was with her 8-year-old son – chased after the thief.
As he tried to escape in a stolen 4WD he ran into Wang, knocking her on to the concrete. She died later in hospital from major head injuries.
Shadrock died in prison in November 2017. In May, coroner Katharine Greig formally ruled he had committed suicide in Auckland Prison at Paremoremo.
Late last month her findings were released to the Herald and it can now be reported that, when Shadrock died, he had traces of illicit drugs in his system – and cannabis was found in his cell within a drug treatment unit.
The coroner said that, in the lead-up to his death, Shadrock had been a “model” inmate and had no identified mental health issues.
He had earlier disclosed obsessive-compulsive traits and anxiety and had seen a forensic health professional, later deciding to work with a psychologist rather than take medication.
“He did not express any suicidal thoughts or ideation ... or make any attempts to self-harm or attempt suicide prior to his death,” Greig said.
“Mr Shadrock had a number of at-risk assessments undertaken whilst in custody – most when he was transferred between prisons. None resulted in him being deemed to be at risk of self-harm.”
In April 2017 Shadrock had started a drug treatment programme (DPT) and admitted that he had started using alcohol and cannabis from the age of 12 or 13.
At that point in his life, he described his substance use as “recreational and a way to celebrate”.
He then developed a daily cannabis addiction which impacted his motivation and functioning and was directly associated with his criminal offending.
Greig said that, in 2014, Shadrock was charged with using drugs in prison. Visits from his partner and child were restricted as a result.
She said he “had decided to remain abstinent from all alcohol and other drugs” after that.
Shadrock told prison staff he was “highly motivated” to complete the DTP, saying his “supportive partner and daughter were his main motivating factors for his change”.
“He identified that his cannabis addiction had been highly problematic and linked to his criminal lifestyle,” Greig said.
“Mr Shadrock identified that the treatment goals he wanted to complete while in the programme were to continue to maintain abstinence from alcohol and other drugs, to actively engage in the DTP and demonstrate commitment towards being considered for phase 2, to follow a sentence plan that worked towards his first New Zealand Parole Board hearing and to create a relapse prevention and reintegration plan.”
He completed the first phase and had started the second when he died.
Greig was told that Shadrock had completed a “comprehensive relapse prevention plan” that involved “various strategies to manage any risk of relapse”.
He “appeared to have a clear level of understanding with regards to his needs” and had highlighted the approaches he would apply in high-risk situations, as well as the support he intended to use.
“The principal corrections officer at Auckland Prison described Mr Shadrock as having been a model prisoner and said that, in the eight months he had known him, there had been no issues with him.
“He described Mr Shadrock as popular and respected as a mentor on the drug treatment programme. He commented on the support Mr Shadrock received from his partner and daughter, ‘who idolises him’.”
In the days leading up to his death, Shadrock wrote in his diary that he was “knocked off balance” in his “thinking patterns” due to “a lot of uncertainty”.
He had been told he was supposed to be transferred to another unit in the prison at short notice.
He described his “disappointment that there were plans to move him when he was getting forward momentum”.
The transfer never went ahead.
Days before he died, the principal corrections officer (PCO) contacted the prison mental health team about Shadrock.
“Although he is not a trained mental health practitioner, based on his observations of 17 years’ experience as a prison officer, he felt that Mr Shadrock was prone to bouts of depression, although this had never been diagnosed,” the coroner said.
On November 25, Shadrock spoke to his partner on the phone for 45 minutes and, after hearing recordings of the conversation, Greig said there were no red flags.
“The calls were amicable, supportive and loving.”
But the next day, when Shadrock’s partner and daughter arrived at the prison for their scheduled weekly visit, he refused to see them.
“He said there had been an argument [with his partner],” Greig said.
“[She] said that they had not argued – but Mr Shadrock maintained that they had. Mr Shadrock remained in his cell for most of the day – which staff said that he did from time to time.
“[She] telephoned the unit twice on the afternoon of 25 November asking that Mr Shadrock contact her and seeking assurance that he was all right. [She] said that Mr Shadrock did not call her back.”
The PCO told the coroner he was “worried” about the inmate as he knew it was unusual for him to refuse to see his partner and child.
“He felt his behaviour was a bit ‘off’ in comparison to his normal self and he requested that welfare checks – which involved staff checking his physical wellbeing – be done at hourly intervals overnight,” Greig said.
Shadrock failed to call his partner on Sunday, November 26, at the usual time and she called the unit again to check on him.
She was told he “was out of his cell” but “still a bit grumpy”.
“She asked that a message be given to him telling him to phone her and that she and their daughter loved him.
“The PCO stated that Mr Shadrock ‘was in a good mood’. He was talking with friends in the unit. One of the other officers on duty that day also said that on Sunday Mr Shadrock seemed happy. She asked him several times if he was OK and he said that he was.”
Prison staff did not see any need to continue the welfare checks that night.
On the Monday, Shadrock called his partner six times and did not explain his refusal to see her or call her back. He “acted as if nothing had happened”.
“This is not like him at all,” his partner told the coroner.
“If he’s in the wrong, he owns up to it with an explanation, which I never got. The remaining calls that morning were all over the place, which left me confused and in tears.”
Greig said records of calls showed Shadrock’s mood varying “from being positive and articulate to being incomprehensible” and “incoherent some of the time”.
“He stated in the course of the conversation ‘I had a weekend. I indulged in things I shouldn’t have. I don’t make it a regular thing.’
“At another point in the conversation, Mr Shadrock said: ‘I think I need to see a psychiatrist’ and commented that it was as if he had ‘mental glitches like a virus’.
“During the final segment of the conversation, Mr Shadrock told [his partner] that he had been struggling and was not trying to remove himself from [her] ... The final call ended with the couple each saying they loved the other.
“[She] asked Mr Shadrock to call her throughout the day ... He did not do so.”
Prison staff reported that Shadrock’s behaviour “was not noticed to be out of the ordinary for the rest of the day”.
“He was locked in his cell for the night at 4.30pm and he and a corrections officer who locked him up wished each other good night,” the coroner said.
“The prisoner in the cell next to Mr Shadrock’s said that he and Mr Shadrock talked to each other through their locked doors ... until about 10pm and at no stage did Mr Shadrock talk about suicidal thoughts.”
Prison staff checked Shadrock in his cell at 6.30pm and 10.36pm on November 27 and at 1.37am and 6.30am on November 28.
“The corrections officer who did the 6.30am check stopped at Mr Shadrock’s cell door and looked through the cell window. She advised that she did not see anything unusual,” Greig said.
“Shortly after 8.15am two corrections officers were conducting the morning unlock in Mr Shadrock’s unit. There was a towel covering Mr Shadrock’s cell window from the inside ... [they] asked Mr Shadrock to remove the towel but received no response.”
They unlocked the cell straight away and found Shadrock unresponsive.
There was a “makeshift cannabis utensil made out of a toilet roll with a small amount of cannabis” nearby.
“Mr Shadrock was found to have had methamphetamine and quetiapine in his blood at the time he died. Methamphetamine is an illegal drug and quetiapine is not a drug he was prescribed. He should not have had access to either,” said Greig.
“There is no evidence that he had used cannabis in the period leading to his death.”
She said Shadrock was “working hard to make positive changes” but, in the lead-up to his death, “things were going on for him that he found destabilising” and his behaviour was “out of character”.
She said Auckland Prison management assured her they were committed to keeping the site drug-free.
“However, there were a number of prisoners that would successfully smuggle drugs despite the relentless actions of staff to deter this.
“There have been times when contraband has made its way on site. Unfortunately, on this occasion, a prisoner from another unit left the drugs in an area where [another inmate] was able to uplift it and introduce it.”
She said the fact Shadrock had access to drugs in his unit was “disturbing”.
“By definition, all the prisoners in such a unit are vulnerable to the temptations of illicit drug use. I am not able to say what factors led to Mr Shadrock succumbing to the temptation to use the illicit drugs but have noted the anxiety and uncertainty he was feeling immediately prior.
“It is hard to escape the conclusion that taking the drugs likely played a role in the decision he made to end his life. It is not possible to know exactly what factors affected his thinking ... however, if Mr Shadrock had not had access to illicit drugs ... he would not have been subjected to stressors associated with accepting and taking the drugs offered to him or the effects on him after he had taken them.
“The drugs ought not to have been available. I am satisfied that Mr Shadrock’s death on 28 November 2017 would in all likelihood have not occurred if he had not been exposed to the temptation of illicit drugs.”
The coroner said she considered whether to recommend that the national commissioner of corrections “undertake a review of the adequacy of the provisions in place to prevent illicit drugs entering Auckland Prison” and, in particular, to consider “whether specific measures are required to protect prisoners on the Drug Treatment Unit from access to illicit drugs”.
After corresponding with the Department of Corrections she was satisfied no formal recommendation was needed.
“[Corrections] advised that a large number of improvements – in terms of methods to detect contraband – have been made since Mr Shadrock’s death and that Corrections continuously works across all prisons to eliminate contraband using different methods to do this.”
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