Police treating death of Napier woman Yvonne Bond ‘as if it’s a homicide’

Yvonne Bond died in Wellington Hospital in March after being found with serious injuries in the Napier suburb of Onekawa. Photo / Shane Thorne

When Napier woman Yvonne Bond died of unexplained injuries, her son started a campaign from his prison cell for her death to be treated as suspicious. James Pocock reports on inmate Scott Bond’s fight, and the frustration it’s causing the man who was her partner at the time of her death.

Police say they are investigating the death of Napier woman Yvonne Bond as if it was a homicide.

Bond, 46, was hospitalised on February 20, after suffering serious injuries at a Dunlop Rd property in Onekawa, Napier.

Her family say those injuries included a crack along the length of her skull.

She was initially treated at Hawke’s Bay Hospital, before being transferred to Wellington Hospital, where she died on March 3.

In March Bond’s partner, Shane Thorne, told Hawke’s Bay Today he had found her lying on her back and unconscious behind his workshop and he had no idea what had happened to cause the injuries.

He said the back of his workshop was “a bit of a trip hazard”, with concrete and loose gravel.

Yvonne Bond's partner, Shane Thorne, has hit out at her family, saying it wasn't a homicide and they don't have the full facts of the case.

So far public statements from police have described Bond’s death as “unexplained”, and have not identified the type of investigation they were conducting.

It led her eldest son Scott Bond, who is an inmate at Manawatū Prison on unrelated charges, to complain to the Independent Police Complaints Authority in June that police were not taking her death seriously, and not moving fast enough with their investigation.

In the IPCA’s response, case resolution manager Cath Anyan told him that police had opened a homicide investigation.

“However, before the police can charge anyone they have to gather enough evidence to show there’s a likely prospect of conviction,” Anyan wrote.

“There is a high threshold and the process to gather evidence can take time.”

Anyan said the IPCA did not identify any misconduct or neglect of duty on the part of the police.

Bond’s family has delegated Scott Bond to be the family’s media spokesperson.

In an unprompted phone call, made to Hawke’s Bay Today from prison, Scott Bond said the family was shocked by the IPCA letter.

They had not been informed by police that they were considering it a homicide investigation until he received it, he said.

Detective Sergeant Darren Pritchard said given the serious injuries Bond was found with were unexplained, police had immediately decided the death should be “treated as suspicious”.

“We are investigating as you would a homicide,” Pritchard said.

When asked if that meant it was now a homicide investigation, Pritchard said he “wouldn’t go that far”.

Yvonne Bond's death has previously been described by police as 'unexplained'.

Thorne, Bond’s former partner, said it also came as a surprise to him that the police were investigating the death as if it were a homicide.

“I haven’t had any word from police for quite a while,” Thorne said.

Thorne said of the IPCA complaint that Scott Bond and other members of the family “don’t have all the facts”.

“They are all thinking emotionally - all I can say is they don’t have all the facts.

“What can you say? For f***’s sake.

“It just goes from bad to worse. You lose the love of your life ... I was there and I told them. It wasn’t a bloody homicide.”

Pritchard said he believed Bond’s family was “generally satisfied” with the progress of the investigation.

He said they had been supplying the family with information and the police were currently waiting to receive expert opinions.

“We are hoping it will be sooner rather than later for the sake of the family.”

He said it was an open investigation and could not confirm if the police had anyone they considered to be a suspect.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz