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The family of a Christchurch woman who was murdered by a patient who absconded from a psychiatric hospital has asked why it took their mother's death for changes to be made at Hillmorton.
Laisa Waka Tunidau was stabbed to death by Zakariye Mohamed Hussein outside her Sockburn home in June 2022.
Hussein was jailed for life with a 13-year non-parole period in November that year and had previously been jailed for more than six years for kidnapping, stabbing and intimidating multiple people across Christchurch in March 2012.
At the time of Waka Tunidau's death, Hussein was allowed to leave Hillmorton Hospital on unescorted community leave.
On Monday, an inquest heard Hussein had left the hospital on 35 occasions and had returned without incident between being granted leave in late April 2022 and the day of Waka Tunidau's murder.
Hussein absconded from community leave and went AWOL - absent without leave - on the day he attacked Waka Tunidau.
Health New Zealand's lawyer Jonathan Coates said Hussein was a patient, not a prisoner, at the time and his treatment had to be seen in that light.
Waka Tunidau's family questioned how he was ever assessed as safe enough to leave the hospital on his own.
Her daughter, Dontey Tunidau, tearfully told the inquest she was exhausted by the fight for truth.
"I for one am tired of not getting answers regarding what is being done to help improve security and ensuring safety is being prioritised," she told the court.
"I understand that this does not bring my mother back but I hope it prevents another family from facing what mine is going through right now. Why did it take for my mother's death for a mental institution like Hillmorton to then improve on how they run their facility? What if Zak hadn't left the premises? Why was Zak allowed to leave? Why wasn't he supervised? These are not even half of the questions that run through my head and my mind on a daily basis.
"It just shows how one's negligence and lack of communication can result in such serious crime. I understand that Hillmorton Hospital as a whole didn't commit the crime but had the staff taken the right precautions, Zak wouldn't have walked off that premises.
"This gutless man had already hurt people before and yet was still held at a mental hospital. He manipulated the system and won and instead of being put in jail, from the very first incident, he was admitted into Hillmorton."
Dontey Tunidau said she was speaking to the court as the voice for her mother.
"There's not a day that goes by where we don't miss or think about Mum. As hard as we have tried to adjust to life without Mum, it is still a struggle. Mum was the glue and through her, we felt love, peace and she was our home," she said.
"We have suffered so much and not being given straight answers breaks our hearts even more. I lost my mum and I don't want anybody else to lose their loved ones simply because somebody neglected and overlooked their duties in taking the right precautions when dealing with a person like Zak.
"I understand that Zakariye is now serving his sentence but my family and I are the ones serving this life sentence that I would never wish on anybody."
Waka Tunidau was murdered outside her home with her youngest son Eparama Tunidau witnessing the commotion.
"On Saturday, 25th of June 2022 my life changed forever. I was only 11-years-old," he told the court on Monday.
"That afternoon I was waiting patiently for my mother to come home. I remember seeing people suddenly rushing around and police gathering. At that moment I did not understand what was happening. I did not realise the person involved was my mother.
"When I learned the truth it felt as though my world had collapsed. As a child I could not fully understand how something so terrible could happen. What I did understand was that the person I loved most, the person who cared for me every day, was gone. From that day onward I carried a pain that no child should ever carry."
While Eparama had learned to life with his grief in the years since, the pain still remained.
"The wound is still there," he said.
"As I now approach my 16th birthday this coming Wednesday, I often reflect on the years that have passed without my mum. The pain has changed over time, but it has never disappeared. There are still days when I wish I could hear her voice, ask her for advice, or receive one more hug. There are still moments when I feel loneliness and emptiness deeply.
"No court decision can bring my mother back. Nothing can replace the love, guidance, comfort and the presence that she gave me. The reality is that I must continue living with this loss for the rest of my life. However, I want the court to know that I'm doing my best to honour my mother's memory. I'm trying to build a future that would make her proud."
Waka Tunidau's eldest son Epineri Tunidau last saw his mother alive when she visited Fiji in 2018.
"Four years later she returned not as the loving mother I remembered but in a coffin," he told the court.
"That image is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. The manner in which my mother's life was taken remains deeply difficult for me to understand and accept. No mother, no parent and no human being deserves to lose their life in such circumstances."
Waka Tunidau's absence was particularly felt on Mother's Day, birthdays and Christmas, Epineri Tunidau said.
"What should be occasions of joy are often overshadowed by sadness because she is not there," he said.
"Every future milestone in our lives is now marked by her absence. She will never again celebrate our birthday with us, witness our achievements, stand proudly beside us at our graduations or share the joy of our weddings. She will never have the opportunity to hold her grandchildren or create memories with future generations of our family. These losses are not temporary. They are losses we will carry for the rest of our lives."
Waka Tunidau's husband Nemani Tunidau told the court he had chosen to forgive the person responsible for his wife's death and the people who failed her.
"Not because what happened was acceptable, not because our suffering was insignificant and not because accountability is unimportant. I have chosen forgiveness because I believe healing is the only possible when truth is acknowledged and responsibility is accepted and meaningful changes follow," he said.
"That is what our family sought from the beginning - truth, accountability, learning and change.
"If Laisa's legacy can help strengthen the system, improve, safeguard and save even one life in the future then her memory will continue to make a difference long after today.
"Today, above all else, I ask that Laisa be remembered not only for the tragedy of how she died but for the remarkable life she lived, the love she gave and the family she devoted herself to. Her life mattered, her voice mattered, her legacy matters."
Nemani Tunidau used his last words in court to speak directly to his wife.
"Laisa, thank you for the love you gave us, for the family we built together and for our four children who continue to carry our spirit every day. We miss you more than words can ever express. Your memory lives in our hearts, in our children and in all that we do. You will never be forgotten, your love continues to guide us and your legacy continues through the lives you touched."
The first phase of the inquest is set down for five days and will resume later this year.
