Father killed own family—Coroner

Press, 23 July 1980, Page 1

Father killed own family—Coroner

PA Auckland A man who deliberately caused the drowning of his wife and two children later committed suicide when: he realised he- was under suspicion, the Auckland Coroner (Mr A. D. Copeland) found yesterday. At the end of an inquest into the four deaths, ■the Coroner said the drownings had not been accidental, .'as thought at first . . . . ' ' i The man, Michael John Raymonds, aged 31, a tree feller, of Epsom had made himself out to be a loving husband and father. On

Anzac week-end this year he had taken his de facto wife, Jane Raymonds, who had been 24 weeks pregnant, and his two daughters, who could not swim, out in an open runabout boat. The boat had been in a poor condition and the weather had been deteriorating. “He (Raymonds) ignored warnings to fix the boat with buoyancy tanks and about the weather conditions,” said the Coroner. . (Mrs Raymonds and the children drowned after the boat was swamped off Waiwera.) The previous month,

Raymonds had taken out an $BO,OOO insurance policy on himself and his wife. His wife had been insured for a further $40,000. It was not until the police had questioned his actions that Raymonds had realised he was in trouble and had taken his own life. The drowning of Mrs Raymonds and the two girls, Rachael Jane, aged five, and Sarah Jane, aged two, had been premeditated and deliberate. Earlier, Detective Sergeant D. B. Thomas had told the Court that he had interviewed Raymonds

about the drownings. He said Raymonds had told him that he had left Motuora Island on the morning of April 27 and had headed for Westhaven but conditions had deteriorated and he had decided to head for the Orewa coastline. Raymonds had said that the boat had been swamped after having been driven into the back of a wave by a swell whipped up by the following wind. Mrs Raymonds and the children had had life jackets on. “Raymonds said he took Rachael with him and

headed for an island he had seen,” said witness. “He told his wife to look after the other daughter and to keep calm. After carrying his daughter for about '2O minutes, she had stopped breathing. He said this happened several times and he realised it was hopeless, arid so he let her go.” Witness said it had taken Raymonds about three hours to get to shore at Waiwera, where he had raised the alarm. During the .interview, Raymonds had admitted “knocking his wife out” with chloroform after an

argument several years ago. He had said that before meeting his wife he had attempted to commit suicide several times “to get attention” but that after some initial problems his relationship with his wife had become a happy one. Constable' M. J. Clark said that Raymonds .had been found dead in a car at Henderson on May 26, A hose had been attached to the exhaust pipe leading into the rear window, The Coroner found that Raymonds had died from carbon-nionoxide poisoning, self-inflicted.