Pieter Willem Jordaan and Karin Neleda Wiid had been in an on/off relationship for a decade. Photo / Facebook
Pieter Willem Jordaan and Karin Neleda Wiid had been in an on/off relationship for a decade. Photo / Facebook
Warning: This article discusses suicide, self-harm, and other mental health problems. If you need help, contact Lifeline on 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP).
A woman who took her own life just months after her partner’s suicide had been interviewed by police in relation to his death - after investigators became concerned about the “veracity” of her version of events.
It has been revealed that police considered criminal charges against Karin Neleda Wiid alleging she left her partner for at least 14 hours before calling for help after he took action to end his life.
They canvassed a number of charge options including failing to provide the necessities of life and assisting suicide - but ultimately did not have enough evidence to proceed with a prosecution.
Pieter Willem Jordaan, 43, died in March 2020 at the home he shared with Wiid in Napier.
Pieter Willem Jordaan and Karin Neleda Wiid had been in an on/off relationship for a decade. Photo / Facebook
Jordaan got a job as a Land Rover technician with a local garage and soon disclosed to his coworkers he was having financial difficulties.
“He had asked for an advance on his wages and inquired about financing options,” said coroner Ian Telford in his findings, released to the Herald this week.
“Mr Jordaan also advised a co-worker that Ms Wiid had threatened to leave him and return to South Africa.
“Mr Jordaan had also taken time off around the end of February 2020 without seeking his employer’s approval. The reasons for this are unknown.”
At 4.45am on March 13, 2020, Wiid called 111 and reported that Jordaan was in the shower and unresponsive.
Paramedics arrived at the property soon after and tried to resuscitate the man, but he was pronounced dead at 5.56am.
Police searched the property and found a note written to Wiid in in Afrikaans saying” “you’re the only one I choose but I couldn’t give you anything because I am killing you. Love always Pieter.”
Wiid was spoken to by police and told them Jordaan “engaged in abusive behaviours” towards her and it was “often associated with his intoxication”.
She told investigators that Jordaan had attempted suicide in South Africa after she ended their relationship and spent two months in a “rehabilitation facility”.
However, Telford said it was important to note that the evidence could not be corroborated.
He said Wiid provided a comprehensive statement to the police - who “held a range of concerns about the veracity” of her story.
However “for the sake of completeness”, the coroner outlined Wiid’s evidence in his findings.
She claimed that on March 2, 2020, she and Jordaan argued and he threatened to harm himself.
“The argument appears to have escalated and Ms Wiid said that Mr Jordaan assaulted her, leading to her fleeing to a neighbour and contacting the police,” said Telford.
“Attending police officers arrested Mr Jordaan and took him to hospital for assessment due to the [self-harm].”
Peter Willem Jordaan died in March 2020. Photo / Facebook
Wiid told police that on March 12 she and Jordaan had an “uneventful evening” at home.
She “stressed” in her interview that the pair had not been arguing and said after Jordaan fell asleep in the lounge at 8.30pm she put a duvet over him and went to bed.
She woke between 1am and 2am and discovered her partner “lying on the floor of the lounge saying he was not feeling well”.
“His speech was slurred, and Ms Wiid says she took a photograph of him, thinking he was drunk,” said Telford.
“She then supported him to go to the bathroom and on reaching the shower area, he fell into the shower cubicle.
“Ms Wiid said she started the shower on cold and let it run over Mr Jordaan for around fifteen minutes. During this time Ms Wiid observed him to be conscious but incoherent.”
When examining Jordaan’s computer and cellphone police found several searches related to the method of his death - which cannot be reported under New Zealand law.
However, they also noted “a range of significant inconsistencies” in Wiid’s statement and evidence.
“She was later questioned, with a particular focus on the variance in her evidence around the times she discovered Mr Jordaan and accessed help for him,” said Telford.
“In summary, the evidence gathered by the police strongly suggested Ms Wiid had left Mr Jordaan in the shower for around fourteen hours before calling for help.
“The time stamp on the photograph of Mr Jordaan in a collapsed state shows that the photograph was taken in the early afternoon of 12 March 2020. Sunlight is also seen in the photograph.
“Police canvassed charging Ms Wiid with offences relating to this conduct. Charges under the Crimes Act 1961 were considered including ‘failure to provide the necessities of life’ and ‘aids suicide’.
“However, it was ultimately assessed that the criteria were not fully met for these charges and the matter could be taken no further.”
Telford acknowledged the police concerns relating to Wiid’s evidence and conduct – “primarily her failure to access medical help in a timely manner”.
“However, following the investigation, the police decided they had no grounds to charge Ms Wiid with any offence. Given Ms Wiid’s subsequent death, this is obviously not a matter I can take any further,” he stated.
“These are unusual and troubling circumstances which certainly complicate matters - however, there is no evidence to suggest any other person was responsible for Mr Jordaan [taking the actions], which I find led to his death.”
Karin Neleda Wiid died in September 2020. Photo / Facebook
Telford said Jordaan was “experiencing stress in relation to his finances and a range of other events in his life” including his recent emigration to New Zealand “which is known to be a highly stressful life event in itself”.
“I am also aware he had left behind his children and other family members in South Africa, which would have invariably caused him considerable sadness and mixed feelings.
“Central to the stress Mr Jordaan was experiencing was his relationship with Ms Wiid. I have described this relationship as fractious and characterised by frequent arguments. However, around the time of Mr Jordaan’s death, this stress seemed more acute and there was a family violence incident leading to Mr Jordaan’s arrest only six days prior to his death.
“There is also some information that Ms Wiid had told Mr Jordaan she wanted to end their relationship and said she was moving back to South Africa.”
He said that, coupled with the note left for Wiid and the internet searches, satisfied him that Jordaan “took deliberate steps to effect his death”.
“I am therefore satisfied that the evidence supports a ruling of suicide,” he said.
Telford also ruled on Wiid’s death.
She took her life using the same method as her troubled partner.
“Ms Wiid was last seen by her friends/landlords on the morning of 9 September 2020,” the coroner said.
“At around 7.40am on 10 September 2020, one of these friends took her some food and found her lying on the ground in the kitchen. She was unresponsive and after contacting emergency services they started resuscitation.
“Unfortunately, Ms Wiid could not be revived.”
Police documents provided to the coroner revealed that several of Jordaan’s friends “voiced their belief” that Wiid was “at fault” for his death.
A doctor also said Wiid had reported that “a neighbour was harassing her and calling her a ‘murderer’”.
The coroner had no direct evidence to back those claims up.
“Unfortunately, I have very little evidence about Ms Wiid’s life directly after Mr Jordaan’s suicide.
“However, it is known that around three months prior to her death, Ms Wiid had been living with friends as a boarder. She confided in these friends that she was encountering a lot of stress in her life including the death of some close friends in South Africa.
“She was also having trouble gaining employment and experiencing related immigration and financial worries.”
The couple had been together on and off for 10 years and had a "fractious" relationship. Photo / Facebook
A friend from church who’d known Wiid for about five months said the woman “needed a lot of support” describing her as “very up and down” and in a “dark space” after Jordaan died.
Wiid spoke to her GP about Jordaan’s death and was reportedly " tearful, depressed, and distressed”; however, the next time she saw the doctor it was noted that her " life circumstances and mood seemed to have improved”.
She saw the GP in June and August and appeared to be declining - saying she was “stressed due to delays in her immigration application” and later, “more anxious and talked about having problems with gaining employment and her immigration status”.
Wiid was taking antidepressants at the time of her death but the coroner said at no point was she assessed to be at risk of suicide.
When Wiid died, police found notes in a book beside her bed that “contained a number of final wishes and statements about not wanting to live anymore”.
“The police have advised my inquiry that they are satisfied that there is nothing suspicious or untoward in relation to Ms Wiid’s death,” Telford ruled.
“Around the time of Ms Wiid’s death, it is clear that she was experiencing many life stressors.
“Ultimately, I find that Ms Wiid took deliberate steps to effect her death… I am therefore satisfied that the evidence globally supports a ruling of suicide.”
Telford extended his sympathies to Wiid and Jordaan’s families.
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