Jaden Goldfinch died after being struck in the temple with a golf ball in February 2018, a day his grieving partner Dominique Fry says is “ingrained” in her mind. Photo / Supplied
Jaden Goldfinch died after being struck in the temple with a golf ball in February 2018, a day his grieving partner Dominique Fry says is “ingrained” in her mind. Photo / Supplied
The Coroner is carrying out a fresh investigation into the death of a man killed by a golf ball during a birthday celebration after the man’s family petitioned authorities to find “the truth”.
The family of Jaden Goldfinch say they were not satisfied with the coroner’s original ruling, which foundthat Goldfinch was “partly instrumental in his own death”. It also found that the man who hit the golf ball was partly responsible.
The case has now been reopened - a move described by one leading barrister as very unusual.
“All we want is the truth,” Goldfinch’s aunt Vikki Goldfinch told the Weekend Herald.
“It’s horrific enough to live without Jaden in our lives. He had grown up and was settling down with his girl, he had his whole life in front of him and to have that taken away in a second is just incomprehensible.”
Goldfinch – a Queenstown-based builder - died in February 2018, four days after he was hit in the head by a ball struck by a member of the group he was with.
The ball was hit by fellow builder Ashley King, who the coronial inquiry heard had intended to hit it back towards the neighbouring golf driving range that it came from.
Coroner Sue Johnson ruled King was “partly responsible for Jaden’s death by his deliberate action in hitting the ball in the direction of three people, with no regard for whether it might not go where he intended and hit someone”.
The coroner also ruled that the shot was not intended to hit Goldfinch or the golfers he was walking with.
Goldfinch’s partner, Dominique Fry, said she has replayed the horrific day countless times in her head.
“The lead-up, where I was standing, where Jaden was standing, him clutching his head and not knowing what the hell is going on.
“These images are ingrained into my head.”
Fry said the “emotions and weight that come with grief” were “too heavy to bear” at times after Goldfinch died.
It was like she was “trapped in a grief bubble”, she said. While she might appear normal to others while out and about, she was actually “screaming on the inside”.
It was revealed during the coronial inquiry that the group had been drinking alcohol.
The coroner said it was “clear from the evidence” that King “actually intended to hit the ball back to the driving range over [the group in the trees]”.
But she said as it was “entirely foreseeable that balls do not always travel straight ahead as planned”, that King was “partly responsible for Jaden’s death by his deliberate action in hitting the ball in the direction of three people, with no regard for whether it might not go where he intended it and hit someone.
“I am satisfied that Ashley’s action contributed to Jaden’s death.”
She also said Goldfinch’s location meant he was “partly instrumental in his own death and therefore contributed to it, although it was nowhere near as significant a contribution as I have found Ashley’s to be.”
The family were never happy with the findings and believe the investigation was not thorough enough - in particular, they did not agree that Goldfinch could be held partly responsible. They asked for the case to be reopened as they believed there were “inconsistencies in witness statements”.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed the case had been reopened but would not comment on the reasons for a new investigation.
Barrister Todd Simmonds said it was not common for a case to be reopened but said it usually allowed a coroner “to consider further evidence and make whatever findings are deemed appropriate”.
In 2015, a fresh inquiry was ordered into the death of a woman almost 11 years earlier after facts emerged that were not available to the coroner at the time of the initial inquiry. In 2019, a coroner’s case looking at the deaths of two tourists, Joan Roma Serra and Eva Fajula Rovira, both 34, in a crash almost a decade earlier was reopened so the driver of the truck involved in the crash could give evidence about possible mechanical faults that could not be substantiated in the first inquiry.
Ashley King did not respond to Herald requests for comment.
Goldfinch’s mother, Kim, said growing up, her “happy-go-lucky” son “excelled at everything”, from BMX to rugby and surfing.
As an adult, he was a caring and vibrant man who got on with everybody and had a massive group of friends and family.
Kim Goldfinch and her son Jaden. Photo / Supplied
“I’m very proud of him … one proud mum,” she said.
“[He was] just so kind-hearted.”
Vikki Goldfinch said her nephew was “like my son” and was living the dream in Queenstown before his tragic death.
“It was a huge loss. I loved him like a son. We always kept each other really close. We lost our father, who died at 45, and Jaden’s uncle, our brother, died at 19.
Vikki Goldfinch says her late nephew, Jaden Goldfinch, was like a son to her. Photo / Supplied
“We had quite a few losses early on so we kept a tight union.”
Goldfinch lived “life to the max” and had returned home for a visit in the month before he died.
“We had this amazing holiday all together in New Plymouth. He said to me, ‘you know, I feel different this time. I feel like I finally get that this is my home and I want to come home’. I feel like he was planning to move closer, to come home.”
His boss at MWH Construction, Myles Herschell, said Goldfinch was an “absolute blessing to me and my company.”
“He brought such finesse and skill to complex construction. He was a true craftsman.
“He brightened up all the team and had such good banter and laughter.”
Goldfinch worked for Herschell for more than two years. The clients and architects the company worked with loved him, Herschell said.
“I will always miss my mate who could understand “what I was putting down”.
“When no one else apart from me could fathom the architects … floating origami buildings clinging to a vertical cliff face … Jaden would grin, slap me on the back and say “too easy, leave it with me mate, I’ll suss it.”
Jaden Goldfinch heading out for a surf. Photo / Supplied
Fry described her late partner’s personality as “infectious”.
“He could enter a room knowing nobody at all and within the hour he would know everyone by first name and have us all in stitches,” she said.
Fry said she and Goldfinch made “countless amazing memories” during their time together; memories that she said she would “cherish forever”.
Of those precious moments, one trumps the rest, she said.
That was the day they met during the 2015 Christmas / New Year holiday period in New Plymouth where she then lived.
Fry recalled how she received a text from a mutual friend after she had been for a swim asking if she wanted to catch up for a beer with a friend of his who was visiting from Queenstown.
“I remember vividly hopping into the backseat and my friend saying, ‘Hey this is my friend Jaden’, to which this person in the passenger seat turned around and smiled at me . . . this huge beaming smile from ear to ear,” she said.
“I remember thinking ‘S***’, he was gorgeous. He said hello and shook my hand I think, and I managed to squeeze out an awkward “hiiiii” before turning red and immediately trying to fix ... my wet hair. I fell in love with him instantly, without knowing it at the time, I admit, and kept thinking to myself, ‘Of course this happens when I look like a drowned rat with goggle marks still around my eyes!’.”
