Man sought by police hanged himself

Press, 9 February 1985, Page 2

Man sought by police hanged himself

PA Palmerston North Sonny Tuakana, the man sought by the police early in January over the disappearance of an Auckland woman, hanged himself at Ashhurst, near Palmerston North, on January 9, the Coroner’s Court at Palmerston North found yesterday. The police believe that Mary Merehira Lazarus, aged 20, died after being assaulted by Mr Tuakana, aged 29, in Whangarei on December 29, and that her body was buried. Detective Constable How-

ard Asplin fold the Coroner, Mr C. G. Hubbard, that Mr Tuakana and Ms Lazarus attended a small party in Whangarei on December 28. Early on December 29, Mr Tuakana was seen to punch and kick Ms Lazarus and ram the front of her head on to a path before throwing her into his car. Ms Lazarus was last seen at a Whangarei service station at 4.39 a.m. on December 29, apparently asleep in the front seat of Mr Tuakana’s car. Detective Constable Asplin said that between then and January 3, when Mr Tuakana arrived at his sister’s home in Palmerston North, he was believed to have driven through the North Island and to have disposed of Ms Lazarus’s body. Mr Tuakana told his sister he had a personal problem, and that he had killed a man. He telephoned his elder sister in Auckland and asked her to come to Palmerston North because he had something serious to discuss with her. Mr Tuakana told both sisters that he killed Ms Lazarus in Whangarei, that he had punched her twice, that it was an accident, and that he did not mean to do it. “He said he kept the body in the boot of his car for two days, then buried her with all her belongings. He could not remember where,” the constable said. “He told his sisters he would take his life. If he

went to prison he would still take his life.” Mr Tuakana left his sister’s home in a distressed state and was next seen parked on a lonely country road in a sparsely populated area north of Colyton later on January 7. The police, alerted by a farmer, spoke to Mr Tuakana, who said he was travelling back to Auckland. The police directed him to Palmerston North. “A later search of the area where Mr Tuakana parked uncovered a length of seat belt wrapped around the branch of a tree. It is believed it came from Mr Tuakana’s car .and that it was’ probably his intention to hang himself in that area,” Detective Constable Asplin said. At 4.30 p.m. oh January 9, detectives found Mr Tuakana dead in a disused transformer shed under the Ashhurst bridge. He was suspended by a seat belt. The pathologist’s report showed that Mr Tuakana died as a result of hanging. The Coroner; said that it was impossible not to be sympathetic to the plight of Mr Tuakana, and to realise what thoughts must have been going through his mind. He found Mr Tuakana died as a result of hanging, thereby committing suicide. As a result of publicity surrounding the death of Mr Tuakana and the disappearance of Ms Lazarus, the Coroner permitted publication of inquest details.