9.00 am - by ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE
Just 3 1/2 years after the brutal slaying of his beloved wife Beverly in their Reporoa farmhouse, Henk Bouma died this morning in Waikato Hospital.
Since the 50-year-old farmer was diagnosed with liver cancer a month ago, his condition had deteriorated rapidly.
A tight circle of
family and friends kept a 24-hour bedside vigil to support him in his final hours.
The turn of events was traumatic at a time when Mr Bouma "had everything to look forward to", a family spokesman said yesterday. But his three children were being "very strong".
"Their Dad and the family are very proud of them."
Son Russell Bouma was working on a nearby farm and his sisters, Sandra and Cherie, were at boarding school in Hamilton when their 45-year-old mother was shot in the neck during an armed robbery in November 1998.
Her death came to symbolise the term "home invasion" in New Zealand.
In the publicity that followed, a heartbroken Henk Bouma kept a stoic dignity in public as angry groups throughout the nation demanded tougher penalties for violent offenders.
Mr Bouma moved to the Waikato, determined to live life as Beverly, his wife of almost 25 years, would have wished.
Although he lent weight to the "zero tolerance to crime" movement, Mr Bouma wanted to "move on" and not let what happened dominate the family's future, the spokesman said.
"He gave moral support and encouragement [to the campaign] but decided some time ago that he didn't want to be a frontline person."
In a bizarre twist to the tragedy, the man convicted of Mrs Bouma's murder, David Tuhua Poumako, died of a heart attack in Auckland Prison at Paremoremo just over a year ago.
The 27-year-old was less than two years into a minimum non-parole sentence of 13 years.
Afterwards, Mr Bouma said he believed natural justice had been done and the family were relieved they would not have to face Poumako again.
But he added: "My children still don't have a mother."
