Bridget Nichols' family take up police finding

Auckland Coroner Sarn Herdson has reserved her decision on the cause of New Zealand diplomat Bridget Nichols' death, but has ruled out disease or suicide.

The Coroner's Court had heard police evidence that Ms Nichols, the Deputy High Commissioner in the Solomon Islands, died as a result of an accident.

At the end of the inquest yesterday David Butler, a lawyer representing Ms Nichols' family in England, said the family accepted the conclusion reached by the police and Institute of Environmental Science and Research forensic scientist Dr Michael Taylor.

Ms Nichols died at about 3pm on March 17 about an hour after she suffered a single wound to the heart caused by a knife, similar to a steak knife, penetrating the left side of her chest. She had recently moved into a house in the High Commission Panatina compound in Honiara.

It was thought initially that an assailant was involved and that her death was the result of a homicide.

The police and Dr Taylor concluded in evidence on Tuesday that Ms Nichols tripped and fell while carrying a heavy box to her car at the compound. They believe a sharp knife pointing upwards in a shoulder bag that she was also carrying penetrated her chest as she fell.

New Zealand investigator Detective Inspector Brian Pearce told the inquest yesterday that at first there were two suspects in the case.

The first was a drunken youth with a bleeding gash in his arm who shortly after Ms Nichols' death was overheard at a music festival saying he had been in a fight with an expatriate woman at Panatina who was not likely to live.

The second was a 17-year-old neighbour who took a particular interest in Ms Nichols and who saw her about an hour before her death.

Both suspects were eliminated from police inquiries.

Mr Pearce said only two items of information - neither of which held up to scrutiny - were received from the Honiara community in spite of appeals for information on the death.

He said that because of rumours in the media, particularly of an altercation between diplomatic staff, a thorough forensic examination was carried out. Dr Taylor was called in and set up a forensic field laboratory in his hotel room.

Mr Pearce said foul play was eliminated. There was no motive, no evidence of a struggle or "defence wounds" on Ms Nichols, no evidence of a second person and no property had been stolen.

The bloody knife left at the scene was not the kind of assailant's weapon typically used in the Solomon Islands. A local offender would have used a more intimidating weapon.

Under questioning from Sarn Herdson, Mr Pearce said the origin of the knife was uncertain but it was possible it had been among possessions Ms Nichols had been unpacking.

He said Ms Nichols "was very much a fruit and vegetable consumer" and it was clear from the contents of the box she was believed to be carrying that they were destined for her office.

Sarn Herdson asked if Ms Nichols, who had been in the Solomon Islands for about four weeks at the time of her death, would have organised a knife for peeling fruit or opening envelopes at her office sooner than on March 17.

Mr Pearce said he saw no fruit or knives in Ms Nichols' office.

Detective Sergeant Kim Libby told Auckland Crown Solicitor Simon Moore, appearing for the police, that shortly before March 17 there had been a home invasion of a nearby property.

He told the coroner of advice in the Solomons that it was safe to eat fruit that could be peeled.

"I am aware that Ms Nichols went to the market and obtained local produce."

Feature: Solomon Islands

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