John Hone Haerewa was about 10 years into his life sentence. File photo / 123RF
John Hone Haerewa was about 10 years into his life sentence. File photo / 123RF
A coroner has released his findings into the prison death of a man responsible for a brutal and infamous Wellington murder.
John Hone Haerewa died in November 2021 in Manawatū Prison while serving a life sentence for killing his on-off partner, Allison McPhee.
He was found guilty after a nearly three-week jury trial in 2011 of murdering McPhee at her Wellington bedsit the year before.
Haerewa, 53 at the time, denied murdering Scottish-born McPhee at her bedsit in Newtown, but the Crown produced evidence that his bloody fingerprints were found on a broken stool leg which had been used to beat her violently about the head and body in the building’s passageway.
Her blood was also found on his tracksuit pants and boots.
It can now be reported that Haerewa died from suicide while he was serving his life sentence.
In a recently-released report, Coroner Ian Telford said Haerewa had been in voluntary segregation and due to move back to his regular unit when he took his own life.
Aged 63 at the time of his death, Haerewa was about 10 years into his sentence.
Corrections staff checked on him about 5.25am on November 5, 2021. About 7.35am a Corrections officer unlocked Haerewa’s cell and found him dead.
Prison staff instigated emergency procedures but were unable to revive him.
Coroner Telford said Haerewa had regular contact with health and mental health services in the prison, had an extensive mental health history, and was diagnosed with PTSD. He also had a severe brain injury from a car crash.
He had been assessed for risk of self-harm and suicide 42 times while in prison and was last assessed to be at risk in 2017.
Shortly before his death, Haerewa asked for a “time out” because he feared for his safety in his unit. He was unwilling to tell staff why he was fearful.
He was moved to a segregated unit and was due to return to his usual unit a week after his death, or when he was ready.
The coroner noted Haerewa had asked to go off his antidepressant medication in July 2021, and no mental health assessment had been carried out between that time and his death.
He also was not referred to the Forensic Service after a risk assessment when he asked to go into segregation.
Coroner Telford also said there was uncorroborated evidence Haerewa was subjected to “unkind words” by other prisoners the night before he died.
Corrections acting director of mental health and addiction services Sandie Finnigan said they had a duty of care to people in prison, which they took extremely seriously.
“Following Mr Haerewa’s death in 2021, the independent Corrections Inspectorate conducted an investigation, which resulted in 10 recommendations. Corrections accepted all 10 recommendations,” Finnigan said.
“Nine of the 10 recommendations were to issue reminders to staff around our processes. This included timeframes for notifying incidents and ensuring contact person details are updated in IOMS, Corrections’ offender management system.”
The final recommendation was around guidelines for prescribers discontinuing certain medications, which Corrections is currently reviewing. It expect to have new safety measures in place by October.
“We are committed to doing everything we can to prevent unnatural deaths and incidents of self-harm in prisons.”
Changes in recent years to prevent these incidents include establishing a new group looking into better managing suicide risk, extra training for frontline staff, better processes for identifying at-risk people, and updates to procedures around wellbeing checks.
They also made improvements to the therapeutic environment in Intervention and Support Units, and to the overall healthcare given to at-risk prisoners.
“Corrections is currently developing a new 500-bed facility at Waikeria Prison, with an additional 100 beds as part of a dedicated mental health and addiction service named Hikitia,” Finnigan said.
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.
