Hollie-Jayne Kereru died at her Methven home and police initially investigated it as a homicide. A Coroner has now ruled it was self inflicted. Photo / Facebook
Warning: This article discusses suicide, self-harm, and other mental health problems. If you need help, contact Lifeline on 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP).
A Coroner has ruled the death of a Mid Canterbury mother-of-five was entirely self-inflicted - despite concerns from some that her husband was involved due to “gaps” in his story and the fact he failed to tell anyone she was dead in the family home for more than nine hours.
Hollie-Jayne Kereru’s husband Joshua found her unresponsive at their Methven home in the early hours of October 6 2018.
Over the nine hours that followed he told various people that the 33-year-old was “resting” or had “driven off”.
It wasn’t until after 9am that he admitted on the phone to her mother that she was dead.
Kereru’s death was investigated by police - initially as a homicide - but no charges were laid.
It was then referred to Coroner Heather McKenzie who has released her findings to the Herald this week.
She said Kereru was described as a “happy, bubbly, beautiful woman” but experienced significant troubles in her life.
She had a history of serious mental health issues and struggled with drug use, and she and her husband were known to agencies as a result of multiple family harm incidents.
In July 2018 Kereru injured her shoulder and was receiving support from ACC including physiotherapy, home help and a nanny.
On October 3 her physio deemed she was able to carry out normal daily activities and no longer required the support or treatment.
Kereru was upset by the news and told her mother she was “beside herself” and “really scared” about how she would cope without assistance.
The next day Kereru opened up to a friend about the problems in her life.
He said she and Joshua spent about three hours at his home and “appeared happy enough” - but did speak about their relationship, work, financial worries and issues.
“Interestingly Hollie talked quite openly about her past suicide attempts,” the friend told the Coroner.
“She sort of mentioned it in passing… (it was) quite a full-on conversation, quite open and honest… almost like it was a counselling session.”
The couple went home and after their two youngest children were in bed they smoked methamphetamine together.
The three older children were with Kereru’s mother.
The couple spoke to his sister via Facetime at 6.22pm and arranged to call again at 8am the next day with their respective children.
Around midnight they smoked more methamphetamine.
Joshua Kereru then left to see a friend who lived a five-minute walk away.
The man would later tell authorities it was “hard to get sense out” of him.
“I have seen Josh in some bad ways but this was next level. He was either on something or coming down off of something,” the friend said.
“His eyes were black and he was as pale as a ghost. He had his hood over his head and pulled down to his eye level… He wouldn’t look me in the eyes and every now and then he would glance at me but not at my face. He was hunched in and both of his hands were in his hoody pockets.”
According to Joshua Kereru, he was away from home for about an hour and when he returned he found his wife’s lifeless body.
He said he checked her breathing when he realised she was dead he placed her on the couch.
He “started to cry and stayed with her”.
He claimed he “could not process” what had happened and could not remember anything for the “next few hours”.
A friend of Kereru’s said she missed messenger calls from Joshua Kereru at 1.39am, 1.40am and 7.05am on Saturday 6 October.
When she called him back at 7.07am he said he needed a babysitter, saying his wife was “resting” and he needed to “go and do something”.
Joshua Kereru’s sister missed calls from him at 6.30am and 7.47am - and when she finally spoke to him just before 8am he was “crying and behaving unusually”.
He told her he’d woken up and Kereru had taken the family’s van and “driven off”.
His sister was concerned and was going to contact other family members to support him but became involved in a car accident.
At 9.14am Joshua Kereru got a phone call from his mother-in-law’s partner.
They were worried as they could not reach Kereru.
On that call, Joshua Kereru disclosed she had committed suicide and was described as “very upset and emotional and devastated.”
Kereru’s mother called 111 and when first responders arrived they found her body on the couch.,
“She was clearly deceased and appeared to have been deceased for some time,” said Coroner McKenzie.
First responders noted injuries consistent with how Kereru had reportedly ended her life.
They did not see any further “signs of trauma” however “did not see an obvious point” in the house where Kereru had taken her life.
As paramedics attempted to revive his wife Joshua Kereru was “just floating around, drifting in and out of the room and house.”.
He told ambulance staff “I don’t know who killed my wife.”
At 9.59am Kereru was pronounced dead.
Police locked down the house for a scene examination and Joshua Kereru was taken to the Ashburton Police Station to be formally interviewed.
Coroner McKenzie said he “did not provide significant information at that time, was uncooperative at times”.
The next day he was admitted to Hillmorton Hospital.
An autopsy was completed - attended by police detectives, a photographer and other experts - and it was reported that aside from the fatal injury “no other injuries were identified that contributed to her death”.
“The autopsy was a forensic autopsy, attended by the Criminal Investigation Branch, and as such I am satisfied that the possibility of criminal conduct was fully considered from the very beginning of police and pathologist inquiry into Ms Kereru’s death,” said the Coroner.
On December 5 Joshua Kereru was further interviewed by police and was able to give more insight into the night his wife died.
“Close to midnight me and Hollie had a smoke of meth and I got paranoid and started hearing noises,” he said.
“Hollie was out of it freaking out as well. I didn’t think she was suicidal… I remember her saying… something about (killing herself) again, but I didn’t think she was serious.
“I was having issues trying to hear her. I was so out of it and freaking out with every little noise. I could hear what she was saying but could not process what she was saying.”
The Coroner acknowledged that the Kereru’s had “significant domestic and family issues” and said often “aggressive” messages between the couple suggested “marked discord and conflict in their relationship”.
In some messages Kereru referred to “not wanting to be alive” and feeling like she “would be better off dead”.
She spoke of previous suicide attempts and at one point discussed “taking up Mr Kereru’s’ offer to (assist her suicide).”
Coroner McKenzie outlined Kereru’s mental health issues over many years - including self-harm and suicide attempts, being admitted to secure facilities and a “history of experimenting with illicit drugs”.
One health professional said she was “sometimes extremely volatile” but was also a “kind person who her loved her children very much” and “appeared to respond well to talking about things and making management plans”.
Another said she’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic and manic features.
She also canvassed the couple’s contact with police and other agencies during their 13-year marriage including Oranga Tamariki and Women’s Refuge.
Coroner McKenzie said during the police investigation and the inquest process Kereru’s family “raised concerns” about her husband’s behaviour towards her.
“Both before and in the immediate aftermath of her death,” she said.
“Concerns revolve around an apparent space of several hours between when it appears likely that Mr Kereru found Ms Kereru… and when he notified others.
“Mr Kereru did not immediately call emergency services, was largely unresponsive to emergency services when they arrived, and had spoken with family members but not told them about finding Ms Kereru deceased, for example.”
She revealed that while at Hillmorton, Joshua Kereru at times appeared “grossly perplexed” and confused and had a “disjointed account of events” - making “illogical non-sensical comments”including about his wife’s “murder”.
An allegation was made during the Coronial investigation that Joshua Kereru’s conduct was “feigned”, however, a clinician diagnosed “drug-induced psychosis, with psychotically driven violence, and an acute stress reaction with dissociation”.
Coroner McKenzie ruled there was simply no evidence to suggest he had any involvement in his wife’s death.
“There remain gaps in parts of the narrative before me of what specifically occurred between when Mr and Ms Kereru were consuming methamphetamine midevening and near midnight, and when Mr Kereru found Ms Kereru, and then between when he found her and when he spoke with (her mother and her partner),” she said.
“I sought further information and analysis from the CIB on these matters (and) police could take their investigation no further than the statements from Mr Kereru and from others already obtained.
“Police have advised this inquiry that in the absence of further information indicating otherwise they are satisfied that there was no criminal liability or suspicious circumstances surrounding Ms Kereru’s death.
“I cannot draw any safe inferences as to why Mr Kereru behaved as he did following Ms Kereru’s death.
“Fundamentally, the autopsy was a forensic autopsy and did not identify any injuries that contributed to Ms Kereru’s death. Police secured the scene and did not find anything suspicious.
“On the available evidence before me, I am satisfied that Ms Kereru’s death was intentionally self-inflicted…(she) had significant ongoing domestic stressors in her life - both in terms of her volatile relationship with Mr Kereru and regarding care of their children - as well as the more immediate or acute issue of her ACC home support being reduced in line with her recovery.
“In all of these circumstances… I find that Ms Kereru died in circumstances amounting to suicide.”
Kereru’s mother did not reply to the Herald.
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