Family of woman killed by mental health patient say they feel 'forgotten'

Otago Daily Times

6 hours ago

By Sam Sherwood of RNZ
A man whose wife was murdered by a forensic mental health patient three years ago has not heard from authorities for more than a year and says his family feels "forgotten".
The Minister of Mental Health says the level of contact is unacceptable, and has reinforced his expectations that the family would be regularly updated and provided support by Health New Zealand.
Zakariye Mohamed Hussein stabbed Laisa Waka Tunidau to death as she walked home from work on 25 June 2022. Hussein was on community leave at the time of the killing.
Two reviews were ordered, one into Hussein's care, and another looking at Canterbury District Mental Health Services.
The mother-of-four's husband Nemani Tunidau met with staff from Hillmorton Hospital in early 2024. He says it was the first and last time he has heard from them.
He told RNZ his family felt "forgotten".
"It just makes me angry and feel that they don't want to blame themselves for what has happened to my wife.
"We are suffering from loneliness, especially the children."
He wants compensation for HNZ's "carelessness that caused the death of my beloved wife".
In October last year another mental health patient Elliot Cameron murdered pensioner Faye Phelps at her Christchurch home.
It has since been revealed that Cameron killed his brother in 1975. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered to be a special patient.
Correspondence released to RNZ under the Official Information Act revealed that on 24 April, a principal advisor at the Ministry of Health emailed the manager of media relations at the Ministry of Health and the Director of Mental Health Dr John Crawshaw about the report into Canterbury District Mental Health Services and media coverage of family experience.
The email included a link to an article written by this journalist while at the New Zealand Herald. The article from January 2024 was an interview with Tunidau, who said he had not heard from authorities since his wife's death 18 months earlier.
Dr Crawshaw replied saying: "This reinforces the need to discuss how the contact with the family will be managed."
The principal advisor agreed and said it had to be a "key priority" for the next fortnight's conversations with Health New Zealand and with ministers.
"No one should be exposed on this - including the families affected by both incidents.
"It's partly why I think an approach to the coroner's office is useful, too. Given the patchy family engagement, I think we should be leading the best practice - the coronial file will have a case manager who should be in regular contact with the family. That case manager would appreciate a heads-up of the report publication and surrounding media coverage."
Phelps' daughter Karen Phelps said she and her brother had a meeting at Hillmorton on 18 December.
Since then, they had received one email that had been forwarded on by police from Canterbury Specialist Mental Health Services general manager Vicki Dent on 14 March.
Dent said the independent review into Cameron's care was "progressing well".
"The panel were onsite at the end of February (a little later than originally planned) and have completed much of their information gathering. They are now working through the analysis, findings and recommendations.
"This is taking a little longer than we had originally hoped, but it is important that this is completed thoroughly."
Dent was unable to give a "definitive timeframe" for when the review would be completed, but said she would keep the family updated.
Dent said she was stepping away from the general manager role, and said the director of nursing would be the point of contact going forward.
Phelps told RNZ it was "extremely disappointing" that Health NZ had "not been keeping our family better informed".
"The fact we have had to take the lead on seeking information obviously just adds to our trauma and stress.
"I fear their independent internal investigation is taking the same track as the Laisa Waka Tunidau investigation that many years later has still not been finalised or the details released. In my view that cannot be seen as anything other than a blatant disregard for the families and a complete reluctance to release findings to the public."
She said the longer it took for reports to be completed "the longer the public is at risk".
"The fact we feel we have to fight to try to get the findings of the report released in a timely manner is shameful.
"For me it is also a stark indication of Hillmorton's generally incompetent processes, which have resulted in these unnecessary deaths in the first place."
In response to questions from RNZ, Minister of Mental Health Matt Doocey said the level of contact Tunidau received was unacceptable.
"After any family has sadly gone through the tragedy such as what the Tunidau family have sadly experienced, I would expect Health New Zealand would be regularly updating the family and providing the needed support.
"I have reinforced this expectation to Health NZ that they will get in touch with the family to ask how they can better support them going forward and have reinforced I do not find the level of contact described as acceptable."
Health New Zealand spokesperson Phil Grady said in a statement to RNZ that HNZ always made contact with families following "serious events" to help provide answers where they could.
"We have done this in both cases, however we recognise there is always room for improvement in our communication with families."
In some cases, families choose to communicate with HNZ through their lawyer or the police.
"Following serious events such as these we undertake a review and this process can be lengthy. During the review process we are often limited in what we can share with families without compromising the independence of the review. During this period we do offer family liaison support where appropriate.
"We are making contact with the families' preferred representative to offer an update and a further opportunity to meet."
HNZ was also refreshing national guidelines to support improved communication with families following serious incidents.
"We are always available and encourage families to reach out to us if it is helpful to them."
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said the ministry recognised the importance of keeping families informed in these circumstances.
"The ministry plans to soon be in contact with both the Tunidau family and the Phelps family as part of the arrangements involved in finalising a report into systemic issues within local mental health services, including forensic services, which was sparked in part by the tragic death of Laisa Waka Tunidau."
Director of Mental Health Dr John Crawshaw said he acknowledged both families' concerns and he intended to meet with both families face to face once the report was complete - should they wish for this to happen.