Money sparked killing, says coroner

Janna Burghout, 75, died before she could face trial for killing her husband Dirk, 77.

Dirk Burghout, suffering from advanced Alzheimer's disease, was "most likely" murdered for mercenary, not mercy reasons, says a coroner's finding.

Mr Burghout, 77, was found dead at his Levin home on February 5 last year with a plastic shopping bag over his head. A post mortem examination confirmed his death was due to asphyxia.

His wife Janna, 75, and 51-year-old daughter, Christina, were later charged with his murder.

But their bodies were found in the sea off Wellington's Houghton Bay in June last year. Their deaths were not considered to be suspicious.

In yesterday's finding, Levin coroner Phil Comber said the law required him to consider any recommendations which could be made to avoid similar causes of death.

"This was a sad family tragedy. It was written 2000 years ago that the love of money is the root of all evil. No recommendation by a coroner will ever change that."

Mr Comber said he was satisfied Mr Burghout did not commit suicide, despite Janna Burghout's statement that he indicated his wish to kill himself, went to his room with a plastic bag and placed it over his head.

"I accept the expert medical evidence that with Mr Burghout's advanced stage of dementia he would have been incapable, even if he had understood about killing himself, of being able to carry out and execute the manner of his death," Mr Comber said.

He was also satisfied that Mr Burghout's death was not a mercy killing, saying the only suggestion it had been came from Janna and Christina Burghout, who had been charged with his murder.

Mr Comber said when Janna Burghout wrote in her diary that Mr Burghout had to die, there was "no reference to mercy, no reference to pain, no reference to suffering, no reference to his being unhappy".

"Only that Dickie has to die or she will lose her money. Any distress or unhappiness, it seems likely, was hers, at that thought."

The inquest into Mr Burghout's death late last month was told Janna Burghout faced a severe financial crisis with the sale of the family home in Levin and the purchase of a more expensive town house in Miramar, Wellington.

Younger daughter Helen Daymond, 49, raised the possibility that her father's death was not "a mercy killing" - suggesting he might have been killed "for other reasons".

Her brother, Pieter Burghout, 42, said he did not believe his father was suicidal, that he was happy to move to the rest home and appeared happier there than at home.

Mr Comber's report yesterday said mercenary motivations were the most probable explanation for Mr Burghout's death.

"When she penned the entry in her diary, Janna Burghout had discovered that the use of the family trust, far from preserving her assets as she had intended, had the opposite effect, and she would have to pay for Dirk's care," he said.

In a separate report, Mr Comber found that Janna and Christina Burghout died on June 19 last year, drowning themselves off Wellington's south coast. He found their deaths to be self-inflicted.

"This was a family tragedy which relates to a family turmoil and distress.

"While there may well be lessons to be learned from it, no amount of legislative or regulatory action would have been likely to have prevented it or to prevent such deaths in the future."

- NZPA