The mother of a New Zealander murdered in Fiji during 2001,
Pamela Mary Swifte Nevins (Scott), 90 died in Wanganui on
Sunday.
Her surviving son, Owen Scott, who was born in Fiji, told
FijiVillage.com that his mother always had very fond memories
of Fiji, and he was planning to incorporate something Fijian
in her New Zealand funeral.
Ms Nevins was also the mother of the former director-general
of the Fiji Red Cross, John Scott, who was murdered with his
partner, Greg Scrivener, in their Suva home.
The two men were reported to have had an earlier relationship
with their alleged killer, Apete Kaisau, who was found to be
culpable for the murders and but was later pronounced not
guilty by reason of insanity.
Owen Scott wrote a book, Deep Beyond the Reef, on the murder
of his older brother and the subsequent investigation, and
co-wrote a documentary film, An Island Calling, with New
Zealand filmmaker Annie Goldson, who described Ms Nevins as a
"great survivor".
Goldson said killing a Scott in Fiji was "a bit like shooting
Princess Diana", though her film portrayed the father of Owen
and John, Suva lawyer Sir Maurice Scott, the former Speaker
of the Fiji Parliament and a prominent criminal lawyer, as a
womaniser.
Ms Nevins spoke candidly in the film about having to escape
the marriage and returning with the boys to New Zealand. "Was
he a bully?" a friend asked her of Sir Maurice. "Oh yes," she
replied.
An alcoholic, Sir Maurice died in 1977.
The film set the story of the family and the killing in the
context of Fiji's post-colonial history, and claimed that
Sitiveni Rabuka's 1987 coup ignited a wave of religious
fundamentalism.
The film showed footage of the police commissioner in charge
of the murder investigation making anti-homosexual and
disparaging remarks about Scott and Scrivener's lifestyle.
The documentary implied Kaisau became deeply ashamed of his
own homosexual tendencies and tormented over his apparent
rejection by John Scott, and Mr Scrivener, who had stopped
him visiting their home.
A funeral service for Ms Nevins will be held at St. Chad's,
Wanganui, on Thursday.
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