Wairarapa Hospital machete attacker Fuatai Iona imprisoned after breaking wife’s lover’s skull

A man who smuggled a machete into Wairarapa Hospital and used it to fracture his wife’s lover’s skull and take a chunk of flesh from his shoulder has been sent to prison.

In the chaos after the attack, confused hospital staff placed the attacker and his wife in a cubicle together while they treated the victim’s wounds, leaving her briefly at his mercy as he tried to punch her in the face.

Fuatai Iona, 63, appeared in the Wellington District Court today for sentencing, after admitting wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, threatening to kill, and assault in a family relationship after the March 2024 incident.

His wife, 35, had been asking for a divorce for months before the attack, with their marriage having been “under strain for many years”, the summary of facts said.

Iona had refused, saying marriage was until death. They had been together for 17 years.

The wife eventually began a “discreet relationship” with the 73-year-old victim, which Iona had suspected. At one point he told her if he found her and the victim together, he would kill them.

Fuatai Iona, 63, appeared in the Wellington District Court for sentencing over a violent machete attack in Wairarapa Hospital. Photo / Melissa Nightingale

The victim, a family friend of many years, was part of the same, close-knit Pasifika community in their area.

On March 30 last year, the wife was admitted to hospital for suspected kidney stones. Iona and their children were at the hospital with her in the emergency department until about 10pm.

After he left the hospital, the second victim arrived for a visit, as the wife had asked him to bring her a drink.

About 11.30pm, Iona returned to the hospital with a machete concealed in his clothing, believing the two victims were there together.

“The defendant was permitted access back into the secure area of the ED by hospital staff, and then went to the ED cubicle where [his wife] was being cared for,” the summary said.

He walked into the cubicle, where his wife was lying on a bed still in pain, and saw the other victim sitting in a chair facing away from him.

“The defendant then pulled out the machete and swung it at [the male victim], striking him twice on the head.”

Iona kept swinging, striking the victim in the left ear and on the back of his left shoulder.

His wife grabbed the machete and struggled with him as he held it against the back of the other victim’s neck, believing the victim had briefly passed out from the initial blows to his head.

She suffered several small cuts to her hands and yelled out to hospital staff for help.

Staff arrived and took away the machete, then, unaware of exactly what had happened, put Iona and his wife in another cubicle as they tended the other victim’s wounds.

Iona turned and tried to punch his wife in the head, saying “you played on me”.

The incident happened at Wairarapa Hospital in Masterton.

“[She] had to move suddenly to avoid being hit, or else he would have struck her in the face with his fist.”

She again raised the alarm to staff, who moved her to another area. Iona was arrested shortly after.

“In addition to the distress for the first complainant . . . it was also an extremely stressful incident for the hospital staff to have to intervene and deal with,” the summary said.

The wife did not suffer any significant injuries, but the other victim suffered a skull fracture, two lacerations on his head that required stapling, a laceration to his ear and a laceration to his shoulder which took off a “moderate piece of flesh”.

In court today, defence lawyer Joseph Griffiths asked the judge not to grant the Herald’s application to photograph Iona, saying there was no public interest in publishing his image.

It would “amount to a pillory or an added punishment in this case in light of the defendant’s previous good character”, he said.

The Herald told Judge Tania Warburton it disagreed there was no public interest when the defendant had smuggled a lethal weapon into a hospital and attacked an unaware victim, causing serious injuries and affecting multiple people.

Judge Warburton said she must give weight to the “desirability of open justice” and granted the application.

In sentencing, she referred to victim impact statements, where the male victim said he was still on reduced work hours due to the ongoing impact from his injuries.

“He is worried you will try and kill him . . . He now thinks about why he survived and how it could happen in such a public place,” the judge said.

Iona’s wife has moved with her children to Australia and still suffers flashbacks and panic attacks.

“She is still scared that you will try to kill her.”

Judge Warburton said there was an argument from Griffiths that provocation was a mitigating factor, due to the affair and the ending of the marriage. The judge disagreed, saying it was not enough to be incensed by the actions of others.

She declined to give a discount for remorse, saying a letter Iona had written to the court said he was sorry for what he did to the male victim, but made no mention of his wife.

“I also note the pre-sentence report said you showed no real remorse towards the victims of your offending, and the point was thoroughly discussed with you.”

She applied discounts for his guilty plea and previous good character. He has no prior convictions.

Iona was sentenced to four years in prison. The 14 months spent in prison on remand will be taken into account by the prison when assessing eligibility for parole.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.