Father-of-two finally cleared of blame in wife's jetski death

As Gavin Visser pulled his dead wife's body from the water, it seemed life could not get any worse.

Despite battling to save Leslie, his wife of 19 years, she died in his arms moments after their jetskis collided at Lake Ruataniwha near Twizel, leaving him to face a grim future bringing up their two young children alone.

But amid the grief of his loss, the Rangiora man did not reckon on another trauma - the anxious wait to find out whether he could end up behind bars for her death.

Last week, police finally decided not to lay charges, and Mr Visser is now finally able to start a new chapter in his life.

An emotional Mr Visser told the Herald on Sunday: "It's been pretty horrendous, and the future is tough enough to think about. We're just trying to hold the team up at this stage and think about things and go from there."

Although happy to be free of charges, Mr Visser is now left to look after his young family alone. He said he was using his exoneration as a chance to build a new future with his kids. He added: "I just need to take stock with my children and then take another breath and go from there, I guess. We just want to take some time out."

Leslie Fay Visser, 38, died in January after she suddenly turned her jetski in front of her husband's. They collided, and she was struck by his machine, receiving horri-fic injuries.

The couple's two children were at the lake but did not see the accident. Mr Visser fought to save his wife, pulling her from the lake and taking her on his jetski to a boat ramp, where revival attempts were made.

Inspector Dave Gaskin of Timaru police said a legal examination of the evidence had cleared Mr Visser of blame. "We've undertaken a thorough investigation and decided there was no culpability at all," said Mr Gaskin.

At the time, Fernside residents were stunned by the death. They said Mrs Visser had been raised in the area and had returned to live on the family's property with her husband and children after they married. Mrs Visser had taken her two children to school in Christchurch each day, and both she and her husband had worked in Christchurch financial institutions, including the Credit Express company. The family had moved from an upmarket Christchurch house to a "near-derelict" old family home at Fernside, west of Rangiora.

"She did it with a huge smile on her face and said as long as she was with Gavin she was happy," a friend said.