Daughter admitted killing elderly father, inquest told

The inquest into the death of an elderly man found dead in bed with a plastic bag over his head was told today that his daughter admitted to killing him.

Police said Christina Berghout, 51, said to Constable Elizabeth Woodley: "I killed my father, I killed my father".

"I didn't do it myself, I guided him. He wanted to go, I haven't time for this crap."

The inquest was told Dirk Berghout, 77, was found in a single bed in his Levin home on Saturday February 5 covered with a duvet. When the duvet was removed a yellow plastic shopping bag could be seen over his head.

The inquest was told when police called at the home at 11pm on February 5 Christina and her mother Jana, 75, were present.

Mr Berghout, who was suffering from advanced Alzheimers disease, had been due to go into the Garden View Resthome in Levin and the inquiry was told that he had said to his wife and daughter that he was very unhappy about going there.

Jana Berghout is said to have told police that her husband would say in Dutch: "Better off dead than living like that." The Berghouts emigrated to New Zealand in early 1950s.

The inquest continues.

- NZPA